LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




Q0D200t3l3bH 



f 



MAMMOTH CAYE. 



RAMBLES 



IN THE 



U^ 



MAMMOTH CAYE, 



DURING THE YEAR 1844, 



BY A VISITER. 




LOUISVILLE, KY. : 

MORTON & GRISWOLD 

1845. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by 

MORTON & GRISWOLD, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Kentucky. 



Printed by Morton & Griswold. 



PUBLISHER'S ADVERTISEMENT. 



To meet the calls so frequently made upon us by intelligent visiters t<5 
our City, for some work descriptive of the Mammoth Cave, we are, at 
length, enabled to present the public a succinct, but instructive narrative 
of a visit to this ""Wonder of Wonders," from the pen of a gentleman, 
who, without professing to have exploi-ed all that is curious or beautiful 
or sublime in its vast recesses, has yet seen every thing that has been seen 
by others, and has described enough to quicken and enlighten the curiosity 
of those who have never visited it. 

Aware of the embarrassment which most persons experience who de- 
jjgn visiting the Cave, owing to the absence of any printed itinerary of the 
various routes leading to it, we have supplied, in the present volume, this 
desideratum, from infonnation received from reliable persons residing on 
the diiferent roads here enumerated. The road from Louisville to the 
Cave, and thence to Nashville, is graded the entire distance, and the greater 
part of it M' Adamized. From Louisville to the mouth of Salt river, twenty 
.miles, the country is level, with a rich alluvial soil, probably at some for- 
mer period the bed of a lake. A few miles belo"w the fonner place and 
extending to the latter, a chain of elevated hills is seen to the South-East, 
affording beautiful and picturesque situations for country seats, and strange- 
ly overlooked by the rich and tasteful. The river is crossed by a feny, 
and the traveler is put down at a comfortable inn in the village of "West 
Point. Two miles from the mouth of Salt river, begins the ascent of Mul- 
drow's Hill. The road is excellent, and having elevated hills on either 
side, is highly romantic to its summit, five miles. From the top of this hill 
to Elizabethtown, the country is well settled, though the improvements 
are generally indifferent — the soil thin, but well adapted to small-gi-ain, 
and oak the prevailing growth. Elizabethtown, twenty-five miles from 
the mouth of Salt river, is quite a pretty and flourishing village, built 



VI PUBLISHERS ADVERTISEMENT. 

chiefly of brick, with several churches and three large iiins. From this 
place to Nolin creek, the distance is ten miles. Here there is a small 
town, containing some ten or twelve log houses, a large saw and grist 
mill, and a comfortable and very neat inn, kept by Mr. Mosher. Immedi- 
ately after crossing this creek, the traveler enters "Yankee Street," as the 
inhabitants style this section of the road. For a distance of ten or twelve 
miles from Nolin tow^ard Bacon creek, the land belongs, or did belong to 
the former Postmaster General, Gideon Granger, and on either side of the 
road, to the extent of Mr. G.'s possessions, are settlements made by emi- 
grants from New York and the New England States. From Bacon creek 
to Munfordsville, eight miles, the country is pleasantly undulating, and 
here, indeed the whole route from Elizabethtown to the Cave, passes 
through what was until i-ecently a Prairie, or, in the language of the coun- 
try, "Barrens," and renders it highly interesting, especially to the botanist, 
from the multitude and variety of flowers with which it abounds during 
the Spring and Autumn months. Munfordsville, and W'oodsonville di- 
rectly opposite, are situated on Green river, on high and broken ground. 
They are small places, in each of which, however, are comfortable inns. 
Boats laden with tobacco and other produce, descend fi'om this point and 
from a considerable distance above, to New Orleans. About two and a 
half miles beyond Mumfordsville, the new State road to the Cave, (virtual- 
ly made by Dr. Croghan, at a great expense,) leaves the Turnpike, and 
joins it again at the Dripping Springs, eight miles below, on the route to 
Nashville. This road, in going from Louisville to Nashville, is not only 
the shortest by three and a half miles, but to the Cave it is from ten to 
twelve miles shorter than the one taken by visiters previous to its con- 
struction. It therefore lessens the inconvenience, delay and consequent 
expense to which travelers were fonnerly subjected, The road itself is 
an excellent one, the country through which it passes highly picturesque, 
and Dr. Croghan has entitled himself to the gratitude of the traveling 
community by his liberality and enterprise in constnicting it. 

Persons visiting the Cave by Steamer, (a boat leaves Louisville for 
Bowling- Green every week) will find much to interest them in the admi- 
rable locks and dams, rendering the navigation of Green river safe and 
good at all seasons for boats of a large class. Passengers can obtain con- 
veyances at all times and at moderate rates, from Bowling- Green, by the 
Dripping Spring, to the Cave, distant twenty-two miles. Fifteen miles of 
this road is M'Adamized, the remainder is graded and not inferior to the 
finished portion. The last eight miles from the Dripping Spring to the 



publisher's advertisement. vii 



Cave, cannot fail to excite the admiration of every one vs^ho deliglits in be- 
holding wild and beautiful scenerj'. A visit to the Cedar Springs on this 
route, is alone vs^orth a journey of many miles. Passengers on the upper 
turnpike, from Bardstown to Nashville, ran, on reaching Grlasgow, at all 
times procure conveyances to the Cave, either by Bell's or by Prewett's 
Knob. 

Arrived at the Cave, the visitor alights at a spacious hotel, the general 
arrangements, attendance and cuisine of which, are adapted to the most 
fastidious taste. He feels that as far as the "creature comforts" are neces- 
sary to enjoyment, the prospect is full of promise ; nor will he be disap- 
pointed. And now, this first and most important preliminary to a traveler 
settled to his perfect content, he may remain for weeks and experience 
daily gratification, ^'Stephen his guide," in wandering through some of its 
tsvo hundred and twenty-six avenues — in gazing, until he is oppressed 
with the feeling of their magnificence, at some of its forty-seven domes, — 
in listening, until their di-owsy murmurs pain the sense, to some of its ma- 
ny water-falls, — or haply intent upon discovery, he hails some new vista, 
or fretted roof, or secret river, or unsounded lake, or ci-ystal fountain, with 
as much rapture as Balboa, from " that peak in Darien," gazed on the Pa- 
cific ; he is assured that he "has a poet," and an historian too. Stephen has 
linked his name to dome, or avenue, or river, and it is already immortal 
— in the Cave. 

Independent of the attractions to be found in the Cave, there is much 
above ground to gratify the different tastes of visiters. There is a capa- 
cious ball-room, ninety feet by thirty, with a fine band of music, — a ten-pin 
alley, — romantic walks and carriage-drives in all directions, rendered easy 
of access by the fine road recently finished. The many rare and beautifal 
flowers in the immediate vicinity of the Cave, invite to exercise, and bou- 
quets as exquisite as were ever culled in garden or green-house, may be 
obtained even as late as August. The fine sport the neighborhood aflJbrds 
to the hunter and the angler — Green river, just at hand, offers such "store 
of fish," as father ^Valton or his son and disciple Cotton, were they alive 
again, would love to meditate and angle in ! — and the woods ! Capt. Scott 
or Christopher North himself, might grow weary of the sight of game, 
winged or quadruped. C. 



INTERESTING FACTS. 



1. Accidents of no kind have ever occurred in 
the Mammoth Cave. 

2. Visiters, going in or coming out of the 
Cave, are not Hable to contract colds ; on the 
contrary, colds are commonly reheved by a visit 
in the Cave. 

3. No impure air exists in any part of the 
Cave. 

4. Reptiles, of no description, have ever been 
seen in the Cave ; on the contrary, they, as well 
as quadrupeds, avoid it. 

5. Combustion is perfect in all parts of the 
Cave. 

6. Decomposition and consequent putrefac- 
tion are unobservable in all parts of the Cave. 

7. The water of the Cave is of the purest 
kind ; and, besides fresh water, there are one or 
two sulphur springs. 



INTERESTING FACTS. IX 

8. There are two hundred and twenty-six 
Avenues in the Cave; forty-seven Domes; 
eight Cataracts, and twenty-three Pits. 

9. The temperature of the Cave is 59*=" Fali- 
renheit, and remains so, uniformly, winter and 
summer. 

10. No sound, not even the loudest peal of 
thunder, is heard one quarter of a mile in the 
Cave. 



The author of " Rambles in the Mammoth 
Cave," has written a scientific account of the 
Cave, embracing its Geology, Mineralogy, etc., 
which we could not, in time, insert in this pub- 
hcation. 



TABLE OF DISTANCES. 



FROM LOUISVILLE TO 
MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Medley's 10 miles. 

Month Salt River ... 10 

Trueman's 8 

Haycraft's 7 

E lizabellitown 9 

JSTolin 9 

Lucas 11 

IMtinfordsville 10 

Mammoth Cave 14i 



88^ miles 



FROM LEXINGTON TO 
MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Harrodsburgh 20 miles. 

Perrj'Adlle 10 

Frosts 12 

Young 4 

Lebanon 7 

New Mai-ket 12 

Barbee 6 

Somerville 3 

Carters 5 

Moss » 5 

Mitchell 12 

Curls 7 

Greens 10 

Dickeys 8 

Mammoth Cave 9 



ISOmiles 



FROM GLASGOW TO 
MAMMOTH CAVE, via. 
Dickevs 18 miles- 



FROM NASHVILLE TO 
MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Gees 9 miles , 

Tyi-ee Springs 13 

Buntons 12 

Franklin 10 

Bowling Green 20 

Pattersons 12 

Dripping Spidngs 3 

Mammoth Cave 8 



87 miles. 



FROM BARDSTOWN TO 
MAMMOTH CAVE. 

New Haven 15 miles. 

McDougals 10 

McAchran (Cobb's .stand) 12 

Bear V^allow 20 

Dickeys (Pi-ewett's Knob) 7 
Mammoth Cave 9 



fS miles. 



FROM BARDSTOWN TO 
MAMMOTH CAVE, via. 
MUNFORDSVILLE. 
McAchran (Cobb's stand) 37 miles. 

Munfordsville 12 

Mammoth Cave. 14^ 



631 miles 



FROM GLASGOW TO 
MAMMOTH CAVE, via. 
Bells 18 miles- 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 



Maniinoth Cave — Where Situated — Greeu Rivei* — Improved Navigation — 
Range of Highlands — Beautiful Woodlands — Hotel — Romantic Dell — 
Mouth of the Cave — Coldness of the Aii* — Lamps Lighted — Bones of a 
Giant — Violence of the Wind — Lamps Extinguished — Temperature of 
the Cave — Lamps Relighted — Eirst Hopper — Grand Vestibule — Glow- 
ing Description — Audubon Avenue — Little Bat Room — Pit two hun- 
dred and eighty feet deep — Main Cave — Kentucky Cliifs — The Church 
Second Hopper — Extent of the Saltpetre Manufacture in 1814. 

CHAPTER IL 

Gothic Gallery — Gothic Avenue — Good Road — Mummies — Interesting 
Account of Them — Gothic Avenue, once called Haunted Chamber — 
Why so named — Adventure of a Miner in fonner days. 

CHAPTER IIL 

Stalagmite Pillars — The Bell — Vulcan's Furnace — Register Rooms — Stal- 
agmite Hall or Gothic Chapel — Devil's Arai-Chair — Elephant's Head — 
Lover's Leap — Napoleon's Dome — Salts Cave — Annetti's Dome. 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Bali-Room— Willie's Spring— Wandering Willie— Ox-Stalls— Gi- 
ant's Coffin — Acute-Angle or Great Bend — Range of Cabins — Curative 
Properties of the Cave Air long known. 

CHAPTER V. 
Star Chamber — Salts Room — Indian Houses — Cross Rooms — Black Cham- 
bers—A Dinner Party— Humble Chute— Solitary Cave— Fairy Grotto— 
€hief City or Temple — Lee's Description — Retuni to the Hotel. 



Xll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Arrival of a large Party — Second Visit — Lamps Extinguished — Laugh- 
able Confusion — Wooden Bowl — Deserted Chambers — Richardson's 
Spring — Side-Saddle Pit — The Labyrinth — Louisa's Dome — Gorin's 
Dome — Bottomless Pit — Separation of our Party. 

CHAPTER VIL 
Pensico Avenue — Great Crossings — Pine Apple Bush — Angelica's Grotto 
Winding Way — Fat Friend in Trouble — Relief Hall — Bacon Chamber 
Bandits Hall. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Mammoth Dome — First Discoverers — Little Dave — Tale of a Lamp — Re- 
turn. 

CHAPTER IX. 
Third Visit— River Hall— Dead Sea— River Styx— Lethe— Echo River- 
Purgatory— Eyeless Fish— Supposed Level of the Rivers— Sources 
and Outlet Unknown. 

CHAPTER X. 
Pa?s of El Ghor— Silliman's Avenue — Wellington's Gallery — Sulphur 
Spring — Mary's Vineyard — Holy Sepulchre — Commencement of Cleve- 
land Avenue — By whom Discovered — Beautiful Fomiations— Snow-ball 
Room — Rocky ^Mountains — Croghan's Hall — Serena's Arbor — Dining 
Table — Dinner Party and Toast — Hoax of the Guide — Homeward 
Bound Passage — Conclusion. 



MAMMOTH CAYE 



OHa PTKR I. 

Mfermuoih CiiVe— Where Sliuatfcd—Grefcu H-iver— Xxnproved iS avigatiOi: 
Range of Highlands — Beautiful Woodlands — Hotel — Romantic Dell — 
Mouth of the Cave — Coldness of the Air — Lamps Lighted — Bones of a 
Giant — Violence of the "Wind — Lamps Extinguished — Temperature of 
the Cave — Lamps Lighted — Fkst Hoppers — Grand Vestibule — Glow- 
ing Description — Audubon Avenue — Little Bat Room — Pit Two-Hun- 
dred and Eighty Feet Deep — Main Cave — Kentucky Cliffs — The Church 
— Second Hoppers — Extent of the Saltpetre Manufacture in 1814. 

The Mammoth Cave is situated in the Coun- 
ty of Edmondson and State of Kentucky, equi- 
distant from the cities of Louisville and Nash- 
ville, (about ninety miles from each,) and im- 
mediately upon the nearest road between those 
two places. Green River is within half a mile 
of the Cave, and since the improvements in its 
navigation, by the construction of locks and 
dams, steam-boats can, at all seasons, ascend to 
BowHng Green, distant but twenty-two miles, 
1 



10 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

and, for the greater part of the year, to the Cave 
itself 

In going to the Cave from Munfordsville, you 
will observe a lofty range of barren highlands to 
the North, which approaches nearer and nearer 
the Cave as you advance, until it reaches to 
within a mile of it. This range of highlands 
or cliffs, composed of calcareous rock, pursuing 
its rectilinear course, is seen the greater part of 
the way as you proceed on towards Bowling 
Green ; and, at last, looses itself in the counties 
below. Under this extensive range of cliffs it is 
conjectured that the great subterranean territory 
mainly extends itself 

For a distance of two miles from the Cave, as 
you approach it from the South-East, the coun- 
try is level. It was, until recently, a prairie, on 
which, however, the oak, chestnut and hickory 
are now growing; and having no underbrush, 
its smooth, verdant openings present, here and 
there, no unapt resemblance to the parks of the 
Enghsh nobihty. 

Emerging fi'om these beautiful woodlands, you 
suddenly have a view of the hotel and adjacent 
grounds, which is truly lovely and picturesque. 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 11 

The hotel is a large edifice, two hundred feet 
long by forty-five wide, w ith piazzas, sixteen feet 
wide, extending the whole length of the build- 
ing, both above and below, well furnished, and 
kept in a style, by Mr. Miller, that cannot fail 
to please the most fastidious epicure. 

The Cave is about two-hundred yards from 
the hotel, and you proceed to it down a lovely 
and romantic dell, rendered umbrageous by a 
forest of trees and grape vines ; and passing by 
the ruins of saltpetre furnaces and large mounds 
of ashes, you turn abruptly to the right and be- 
hold the mouth of the great cavern and as sud- 
denly feel the coldness of its air. 

It is an appalling spectacle, — how dark, how 
dismal, how dreary. Descending some thirty 
feet down rather rude steps of stone, you are 
fairly under the arch of this " nether world " — 
before you, in looking outwards, is seen a small 
stream of water falling from the face of the 
crowning rock, with a wild faltering sound, upon 
the ruins below, and disappearing in a deep pit, 
— behind you, all is gloom and darkness ! 

Let us now follow the guide — who, placing 
on his back a canteen of oil, lights the lamps, 



12 MAMMOTH CAVE' 

and giving one to each person, we conniience 
our subterranean journey ; having determined to 
confine ourselves, for this day, to an examina- 
tion of soine of the avenues on this side of the 
rivers, and to resume, on a future occasion, our 
visit to the fairy scenes beyond. I emphasize 
the word some of the avenues, because no visiter 
has ever yet seen one in twenty ; and, akhough 
I shall attempt to describe only a few of them, 
and in so doing will endeavor to represent things 
as I saw them, and as they impressed me, I am 
not the less apprehensive that my descriptions 
will appear as unbounded exaggerations, so won- 
derfully vast is the Cave, so singular its forma- 
tions, and so unique its characteristics. 

At the place where our lamps were lighted, 
are to be seen the wooden pipes which conduct- 
ed the water, as it fell from the ceihng, to the 
vats or saltpetre hoppers ; and near this spot too, 
are interred the bones of a giant ^ of such vast 
size is the skeleton, at least gf such portions of 
it as remain. With regard to this giant, or 
more properly skeleton, it may be well to state, 
that it was found by the saltpetre workers far 
\^ithin the Cave years ago, and was buried by 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 13 

their employer where it now hes, to quiet their 
superstitious fears, not however before it was be- 
reft of its head by some fearless antiquary. 

Proceeding onward about one-hundred feet, 
we reached a door, set in a rough stone wall, 
stretched across and completely blocking up the 
Cave; which was no sooner opened, than our 
lamps were extinguished by the violence of the 
wind rushing outwards. An accurate estimate 
of the external temperature, may at any time, 
be made, by noting the force of the wind as it 
blows inward or outward. When it is very 
warm without, the wind blows outwards with 
violence ; but when cold, it blows inwards wdth 
proportionate force. The temperature of the 
Cave, (winter and summer,) is invariably the 
same — 59^ Fahrenheit; and its atmosphere is 
perfectly uniform, dry, and of most extraordinary 
salubrity. 

Our lamps being rehghted, we soon reached a 
narrow passage faced on the left side by a wall, 
built by the miners to confine the loose stone 
thrown up in the course of their operations, 
when gradually descending a short distance, we 
5* 



14 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

entered the great vestibule or aute-cliamber of 
the Cave. " What do we now see 1 Midnight I 
— the blackness of darkness ! — Nothing ! Where 
is the wall we were lately elbowing out of the 
way? It has vanished! — It is lost! We are 
walled in by darkness, and darkness canopies us 
above. Look again ; — Swing your torches aloft ! 
Aye, now you can see it ; far up, a hundred feet 
above your head, a grey ceihng rolling dimly 
a\\ ay like a cloud, and heavy buttresses, bending 
under the weight, curling and toppling over their 
base, begin to project their enormous masses 
from the shadowy wall. How vast ! How sol- 
emn ! How awful ! The little bells of the brain 
are ringing in your ears ; you hear nothing else 
— not even a sigh of air — not even the echo of 
a drop of water falhng from the roof The 
guide triumphs in your look of amazement and 
awe ; he falls to work on certain old wooden 
ruins, to you, yet invisible, and builds a brace or 
t\vo of fires, by the aid of which you begin to 
have a better conception of the scene around 
you. You are in the vestibule or ante-chamber, 
to Avhich the spacious entrance of the Cave, and 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 15 

the narrow passage that succeeds it, should be 
considered the mere gate-way and covered ap- 
proach. It is a basihca of an oval figure — two- 
hundred feet in length by one-hundred and fifty 
wide, with a roof which is as flat and level as 
if finished by the trowel of the plasterer, of fifty 
or sixty or even more feet in height. Two 
passages, each a hundred feet in width, open 
into it at its opposite extremities, but at right 
angles to each other ; and as they preserve a 
straight course for five or six-hundred feet, with 
the same flat roof common to each, the ap- 
pearance to the eye, is that of a vast hall in the 
shape of the letter L expanded at the angle, both 
branches being five-hundred feet long by one- 
hundred wide. The passage to the right hand 
is the '^ Great Bat Room ;" (Audubon Avenue.) 
That in the front, the beginning of the Grand 
Gallery, or the Main Cavern itself The whole 
of this prodigious space is covered by a single 
rock, in which the eye can detect no break or 
interruption, save at its borders, where is a broad, 
sweeping cornice, traced in horizontal panel- 
work, exceedingly noble and regular ; and not a 
single pier or pillar of any kind contributes to 



16 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

support it. It needs no support. It is like the 
arched and ponderous roof of the poet's mauso- 
leum : 

" By its own weight made stetlfast and immoveable." 

The floor is very irregularly broken, consisting 
of vast heaps of the nitrous earth, and of the 
ruins of the hoppers or vats, composed of heavy 
planking, in which the miners were accustomed 
to leach it. The hall was, in fact, one of their 
chief factory rooms. Before their day, it was a 
cemetery ; and here they disinterred many a 
mouldering skeleton, belonging it seems, to that 
gigantic eight or nine feet race of men of past 
days, whose jaw-bones so many vivacious per- 
sons have clapped over their own, like horse- 
collars, without laying by a single one to con- 
vince the soul of scepticism. 

Such is the vestibule of the Mammoth Cave, 
— a hall which hundreds of visitors have passed 
through without being conscious sf its existence. 
The path, leading into the Grand Gallery, hugs 
the wall on the left hand ; and is, besides, in a 
hollow, flanked on the right hand by lofty 
mounds of earth, which the visitor, if he looks at 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 17 

them at all, which he will scarcely do, at so 
early a period after entering, will readily suppose 
to be the opposite walls. Those who enter the 
Great Bat Room, (Audubon Avenue,) into 
which flying visitors are seldom conducted, will 
indeed have some faint suspicion, for a moment, 
that they are passing through infinite space ; but 
the walls of the Cave being so dark as to reflect 
not one single ray of light from the dim torches, 
and a greater number of them being necessary to 
disperse the gloom than are usually employed, 
they will still remain in ignorance of the grand- 
eur around them." 

Such is the vestibule of the Mammoth Cave, 
as described by the ingenious author of "Cala- 
var," "Peter Pilgrim," &c. 

From the vestibule we entered Audubon Ave- 
nue, which is more than a mile long, fifty or sixty 
feet wide and as many high. The roof or ceil- 
ing exhibits, as you w alk along, the appearance 
of floating clouds — and such is observable in 
many other parts of the Cave. Near the termin- 
ation of this avenue, a natural well, twenty-five 
feet deep, and containing the purest water, has 
been recently discovered ; it is surrounded by 



18 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Stalagmite columns, extending from the floor to 
the roof, upon the incrustations of which, when 
lights are suspended, the reflection from the 
water below and the various objects above and 
around, gives to the whole scene an appearance 
equally rare and picturesque. This spot, how- 
ever, being difficult of access, is but seldom vis- 
ited. 

The Little Bat Room Cave — a branch of 
Audubon Avenue, — is on the left as you ad- 
vance, and not more than three-hundred yards 
from the great vestibule. It is but little more 
than a quarter of a mile in length, and is remark- 
able for its pit of two-hundred and eighty feet in 
depth ; and as being the hibernal resort of bats. 
Tens of thousands of them are seen hanging 
from the walls, in apparently a torpid state, during 
the winter, but no sooner does the spring open, 
than they disappear. 

Returning from the Little Bat Room and Au- 
dubon Avenue, we pass again through the vesti- 
bule, and enter the Main Cave or Grand Gallery. 
This is a vast tunnel extending for miles, avera- 
ging throughout, fifty feet in width by as many 
in height. It is truly a noble subterranean ave- 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 19 

nue ; the largest of which man has any knowl- 
edge, and replete with interest, from its varied 
characteristics and majestic grandeur. 

Proceeding down the main Cave about a 
quarter of a mile, we came to the Kentucky 
Cliffs, so called from the fancied resemblance to 
the cliffs on the Kentucky River, and descend- 
ing gradually about twenty feet entered the 
church, when our guide was discovered in the 
pulpit fifteen feet above us, having reached there 
by a gallery which leads from the cliffs. The 
ceiling here is sixty three feet high, and the 
church itself, including the recess, cannot be 
less than one hundred feet in diameter. Eight 
or ten feet above and immediately behind the pul- 
pit, is the organ loft, which is sufficiently capa- 
cious for an organ and choir of the largest size. 
There w^ould appear to be something like de- 
sign in all this; — here is a church large enough 
to accomodate thousands, a solid projection of 
the wall of the Cave to serve as a pulpit, and 
a few feet back a place for an organ and choir. 
In this great temple of nature, religious service 
has been frequently held, and it requires but a 
slight effort on the part of a speaker, to make him- 
self distinctly lieard by the largest congregation. 



20 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Sometimes the guides climb up the high and 
ragged sides, and suspend lamps in the crevices 
and on the projections of the rock, thus lighting 
up a scene of wild grandeur and sublimity. 

Concerts too have been held here, and the 
melody of song has been heard, such as would 
delight the ear of a Catalini or a Malibran. 

lieavin^ rh^^ I'hinvK voii will obs^'rAn. on as- 
cending, a lArgi: PiTihdakriieni ot lixiviar^il rarui 
thrown out by the miners more rhan thirry years 
ago, the print of wagon wheels and the tracks 
of oxen, as distinctly defined as though they 
were made but yesterday ; and continuing on for 
a short distance, you arrive at the Second Hop- 
pers. Here are seen the ruins of the old nitre 
works, leaching vats, pump frames and two lines 
of wooden pipes ; one to lead fresh water from 
the dripping spring to the vats filled with the 
nitrous earth, and the other to convey the lye 
drawn from the large reservoir, back to the fur- 
nace at the mouth of the Cave. 

The quantity of nitrous earth contained in the 
Cave is " sufficient to supply the whole popula- 
tion of the globe with saltpetre." 

" The dirt gives from three to hve pounds of 
nitrate of hme to the bushel, requiring a large 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 21 

proportion of fixed alkali to produce tiie required 
crystalization, and when left in the Cave be- 
come re-impregnated in three years. When salt- 
petre bore a high price, immense quantities were 
manufactured at the Mammoth Cave, but the re- 
turn of peace brought the saltpetre from the East 
Indies in competition with the American, and 
drove that of the produce of our coimtry entirely 
from the market. An idea may be formed of 
the extent of the manufacture of saltpetre at this 
Cave, from the fact that the contract for the 
supply of the fixed alkali alone for the Cave, for 
the year 1814, was twenty thousand dollars." 

" The price of the article was so high, and the 
profits of the manufacturer so great, as to set half 
the western world gadding after nitre caves — 
the gold mines of the day. Cave hunting in 
fact became a kind of mania, beginning with 
speculators, and ending w ith hair brained young 
men, who dared for the love of adventure the 
risk which others ran for profit." Every hole, 
remarked an old miner, the size of a man's body, 
has been penetrated for miles around the Mam- 
moth Cave, but although we found ^'pefre earth!' 
we never could find a cave worth having. 



CHAPTER II. 

Gothic Gallery — Gothic Avenue — Good Road — Mammies — Interesting- 
Account of Them — Gothic Avenue once called Haunted Chamber — 
Why so Named — Adventure of a Miner in Fonner Days. 

In looking from the ruins of the nitre works, to 
the left and some thirty feet above, you will see a 
large cave, connected with which is a narrow gal- 
lery sweeping across the Main Cave and losing 
itself in a cave, which is seen above to your right. 
This latter cave is the Gothic Avenue, which no 
doubt was at one time connected with the cave 
opposite and on the same level, forming a com- 
plete bridge over the main avenue, but afterwards 
broken down and separated by some great con- 
vulsion. 

The cave on the left, which is filled with sand, 
has been penetrated but a short distance ; still 
from its great size at its entrance, it is more than 
probable, that, were all obstructions removed, it 
might be found to extend for miles. 



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MAMMOTH CAVE. 23 

While examining the old saltpetre works, the 
guide left us without our being aware of it, but 
casting our eyes around we perceived him stand- 
ing some forty feet above, on the projection of a 
huge rock, or tower, which commands a view of 
the grand gallery to a great extent both up and 
down. 

Leaving the Main Cave and ascending a flight 
of stairs twenty or thirty feet, we entered the 
Gothic Avenue, so named from the Gothic ap- 
pearance of some of its compartments. This av- 
enue is about forty feet wide, fifteen feet high and 
two miles long. The ceiling looks in many places 
as smooth and white as though it had been under 
the trowel of the most skilful plasterer. A good 
road has been made throughout this cave, and 
such is the temperature and purity of its atmos- 
phere, that every visitor must experience their sal- 
utary influences. 

In a recess on the left hand elevated a few 
feet above the floor and about fifty feet from the 
head of the stairs leading up from the Main Av- 
enue, two mummies long since taken away, were 
to be seen in 1813. They were in good pres- 
ervation; one was a female with her extensive 



24 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

wardrobe placed before her. The removal of 
those mummies from the place in which they 
were found can be viewed as little less than 
sacrilege. There they had been, perhaps for 
centuries, and there they ought to have been left. 
What has become of them I know not. One of 
them, it is said, was lost in the burning of the 
Cincinnati museum. The wardrobe of the fe- 
male w^as given to a Mr. Ward, of Massachusetts, 
who I believe presented it to the British Mu- 
seum. 

Two of the miners found a mummy in Au- 
dubon Avenue, in 1814. With a view to con- 
ceal it for a time, they placed large stones over 
it, and marked the walls about the spot so that 
they might find it at some future period; this 
however, they w^ere never able to effect. In 
1840, the present hotel keeper Mr. Miller, learn- 
ing the above facts, went in search of the place 
designated, taking with him very many lights, 
and found the marks on the walls, and near to 
them the nuimmy. It was, however, so much 
injured and broken to pieces by the heavy 
^veights which had been placed upon it, as to be 
of little interest or value. I have no doubt, that 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 25 

if proper efforts were made, mummies and other 
objects of curiosity might be found, which would 
tend to throw Hght on the early history of the 
first inhabitants of this continent. 

Believing, that whatever [may relate to these 
mummies cannot fail to interest, I will extract 
from the recently published narrative of a high- 
ly scientific gentleman of New York, himself one 
of the early visitors to the Cave. 

" On my first visit to the Mammoth Cave in 
1813, I saw a relic of ancient times, which re- 
quires a minute description. This description 
is from a memorandum made in the Cave at 
the time. 

In the digging of saltpetre earth, in the short 
cave, a flat rock was met with by the workmen, a 
little below the surface of the earth in the Cave; 
this stone was raised, and was about four feet 
wide and as many long; beneath it was a square 
excavation about three feet deep and as many 
in length and width. In this small nether sub- 
terranean chamber, sat in solemn silence one of 
the human species, a female with her wardrobe 
and ornaments placed at her side. The body 
was in a state of perfect preservation, and sitting 
2* 



26 MAMMOTH CAVE, 

erect. The arms were folded up and the hands 
were laid across the bosom; around the two 
wrists was wound a small cord, designed proba- 
bly, to keep them in the posture in which they 
were first placed; around the body and next 
thereto, was wrapped two deer-skins. These 
skins appear to have been dressed in some mode 
different from what is now practised by any peo- 
ple, of whom I have any knowledge. The hair 
of the skins was cut off very near the surface. 
The skins were ornamented with the imprints of 
vines and leaves, which were sketched with 
a substance perfectly white. Outside of these 
two skins was a large square sheet, which was 
either wove or knit. This fabric was the inner 
bark of a tree, which I judge from appearances 
to be that of the linn tree. In its texture and 
appearance, it resembled the South Sea Island 
cloth or matting; this sheet enveloped the whole 
body and the head. The hair on the head was 
cut off within an eighth of an inch of the skin, 
except near the neck, where it was an inch long. 
The color of the hair was a dark red; the teeth 
were white and perfect. I discovered no blem- 
ish upon the body, except a wound between two 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 27 

ribs near the back-bone; one of the eyes had 
also been injured. The finger and toe nails 
were perfect and quite long. The features were 
regular. I measured the length of one of the 
bones of the ami with a string, from the elbow 
to the wrist joint, and they equalled my own in 
length, viz: ten and a half inches. From the 
examination of the whole frame, I judged the 
figure to be that of a very tall female, say five 
feet ten inches in height. The body, at the 
time it was first discovered, weighed but four- 
teen pounds, and was perfectly dry; on expo- 
sure to the atmosphere, it gained in weight by 
absorbing dampness four pounds. Many per- 
sons have expressed surprise that a human body 
of great size should weigh so little, as many hu- 
man skeletons of nothing but bone, exceed this 
weight. Recently some experiments have been 
made in Paris, which have demonstrated the 
fact of the human body being reduced to ten 
pounds, by being exposed to a heated atmos- 
phere for a long period of time. The color of 
the skin was dark, not black; the flesh was 
hard and dry upon the bones. At the side of 
the body lay a pair of moccasins, a knapsack 



28 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

and an indispensable or reticule. I will describe 
these in the order in which I have named them. 
The moccasins were made of w^ove or knit bark, 
like the wrapper I have described. Around the 
top there was a border to add strength and per- 
haps as an ornament. These were of middhng 
size, denoting feet of small size. The shape of 
the moccasins differs but little from the deer-skin 
moccasins worn by the Northern Indians. The 
knapsack was of wove or knit bark, with a 
deep, strong border around the top, and was 
about the size of knapsacks used by soldiers. 
The workmanship of it was neat, and such as 
would do credit as a fabric, to a manufacturer 
of the present day. The reticule was also made 
of knit or wove bark. The shape was much 
Uke a horseman's valise, opening its whole length 
on the top. On the side of the opening and a 
few inches from it, were two rows of hoops, 
one row on each side. Two cords were fast- 
ened to one end of the reticule at the top, which 
passed through the loop on one side and then 
on the other side, the whole length, by which 
it was laced up and secured. The edges of the 
top of the reticule were strengthened with deep 



MAMMOTH CAVE, 29 

fancy borders. The articles contained in the 
knapsack and reticule were quite numerous, and 
are as follows: one head cap, made of wove or 
knit bark, without any border, and of the shape 
of the plainest night cap; seven head-dresses 
made of the quills of large birds, and put together 
somewhat in the same way that feather fans are 
made, except that the pipes of the quills are not 
drawn to a point, but are spread out in straight 
lines with the top. This was done by perfo- 
rating the pipe of the quill in two places and 
running two cords through these holes, and then 
winding around the quills and the cord, fine 
thread, to fasten each quill in the place designed 
for it. These cords extended some length beyond 
the quills on each side, so that on placing the 
feathers erect on the head, the cords could be 
tied together at the back of the head. This 
would enable the wearer to present a beautiful 
display of feathers standing erect and extending 
a distance above the head, and entirely surround- 
ing it. These were most splendid head dresses, 
and would be a magnificent ornament to the 
head of a female at the present day, — several 
hundred strings of beads ; these consisted of a 



30 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

very hard brown seed smaller than hemp seed, 
m each of which a small hole had been made, 
and through this hole a small three corded thread, 
similar in appearance and texture to seine twine ; 
these were tied up in bunches, as a merchant 
ties up coral beads when he exposes them for 
sale. The red hoofs of fawns, on a string sup- 
posed to be worn around the neck as a necklace. 
These hoofs were about twenty in number, and 
may have been emblematic of Innocence ; the 
claw of an eagle, with a hole made in it, through 
which a cord was passed, so that it could be 
worn pendent from the neck ; the jaw of a bear 
designed to be worn in the same manner as the 
eagle's claw, and supplied with a cord to suspend 
it around the neck ; two rattlesnake-skins, one 
of these had fourteen rattles upon it, these were 
neatly folded up ; some vegetable colors done up 
in leaves ; a small bunch of deer sinews, resem- 
bling cat-gut in appearance ; several bunches of 
thread and twine, two and three threaded, some 
of which were nearly white; seven needles, 
some of these were of horn and some of bone, 
they were smooth and appeared to have been 
much used. These needles had each a knob 



MAMMOTH CAVE, 31 

or whirl on the top, and at the other end were 
brought to a point hke a large sail needle. They 
had no eyelets to receive a thread. The top 
of one of these needles was handsomely scalloped; 
a hand-piece made of deer-skin, with a hole 
through it for the thumb, and designed probably 
to protect the hand in the use of the needle, the 
same as thimbles are now used ; two whistles 
about eight inches long made of cane, with a 
joint about one third the length ; over the joint 
is an opening extending to each side of the tube 
of the whistle, these openings were about three- 
fourths of an inch long and a quarter of an inch 
wide, and had each a flat reed placed in the 
opening. These whistles were tied together 
with a cord wound around them. 

I have been thus minute in describing the 
mute witness from the days of other times, and 
the articles which were deposited within her 
earthen house. Of the race of people to whom 
she belonged when living, we know nothing; 
and as to conjecture, the reader who gathers 
from these pages this account, can judge of the 
matter as well as those who saw the remnant of 
mortality in the subterranean chambers in which 



32 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

she was entombed. The cause of the preserva- 
tion of her body, dress and ornaments is no 
mystery. The dry atmosphere of the Cave, 
with the nitrate of hme, with which the earth 
that covers the bottom of these nether palaces is 
so highly impregnated, preserves animal flesh, 
and it will neither pntrify nor decompose when 
confined to its unchanging action. Heat and 
moisture are both absent from the Cave, and it is 
these two agents, acting together, which produce 
both animal and vegetable decomposition and 
putrefaction. 

In the ornaments, etc., of this mute witness of 
ages gone, we have a record of olden time, from 
which, in the absence of a written record, we 
may draw some conclusions. In the various 
articles which constituted her ornaments, there 
were no metallic substances. In the make of 
her dress, there is no evidence of the use of any 
other machinery than the bone and horn needles. 
The beads are of a substance, of the use of 
which for such purposes, we have no account 
among people of whom we have any written 
record. She had no warlike arms. By what 
process the hair upon her head was cut short. 



MAMMOTH CAV'E. 33 

or by what process the deer-skins were shorn, 
w^e have no means of conjecture. These arti- 
cles afford us the same means of judging of the 
nation to which she belonged, and of their ad- 
vances in the arts, that future generations will 
have in the exhumation of a tenant of one of 
our modern tombs, with the funeral shroud, etc. 
in a state of like preservation ; with this differ- 
ence, that with the present inhabitants of this 
section of the globe, but few articles of ornament 
are deposited with the body. The features of 
this ancient member of the human family much 
resembled those of a tall, handsome American 
woman. The forehead was high, and the head 
well formed." 

" Ye mouldering relics of a race depai-ted, 
Your names have perished ; not a trace remains." 

The Gothic Avenue was once called the Haun- 
ted Chamber, and owed its name to an adven- 
ture that befell one of the miners in former days, 
which is thus related by the author of ^'Calavar." 

" In the Lower Branch is a room called the 
Salts Room, which produces considerable quan- 
tities of the sulphate of magnesia, or of soda, 
we forget which — a mineral that the proprietor 
3 



34 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

of the Cave did not fail to turn to account. The 
miner in question was a new and raw hand — of 
course neither very well acquainted with the 
Cave itself, nor with the approved modes of 
averting or repairing accidents, to which, from 
the nature of their occupation, the miners were 
greatly exposed. Having been sent, one day, 
in charge of an older workman, to the Salts 
Room to dig a few sacks of the salt, and finding 
that the path to this sequestered nook was per- 
fectly plain ; and that, from the Haunted Cham- 
bers being a single, continuous passage without 
branches, it was impossible to w ander from it, 
our hero disdained on his second visit, to seek 
or accept assistance, and trudged off to his work 
alone. The circumstance being common enough 
he was speedily forgotten by his brother miners; 
and it w^as not until several hours after, when 
they all left off their toil for the more agreeable 
duty of eating their dinner, that his absence was 
remarked, and his heroical resolution to make 
his way alone to the Salts Room remembered. 
As it was apparent, from the time he had been gone, 
that some accident must have happened to him, 
half a dozen men, most of them negroes, strip- 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 35 

ped half naked, their usual working costume, were 
sent to hunt him up, a task supposed to be of 
no great difficuky, unless he had fallen into a pit. 
In the meanwhile, the poor miner, it seems, had 
succeeded in reaching the Salts Room, filling 
. his sack, and retracing his steps half way back 
to the Grand Gallery ; when findino; the distance 
greater than he thought it ought to be, the con- 
ceit entered his unlucky brain that he might 
perhaps be going wrong. No sooner had the 
suspicion struck him, than he fell into a violent 
terror, dropped his sack, ran backwards, then re- 
turned, then ran back again — each time more 
frightened and bewildered than before; until 
at last he ended his adventure by tumbling 
over a stone and extinguishing his lamp. Thus 
left in the dark, not knowing wdiere to turn, 
frightened out of his wits besides, he fell to re- 
membering his sins^ — always remembered by 
those who are lost in the Cave — and praying 
with all his might for succor. But hours pass- 
ed away, and assistance came not; the poor 
fellow's frenzy increased ; he felt himself a doom- 
ed man ; he thought his terrible situation w^as a 
judgment imposed on him for his wickedness ; 



36 MAM310TH CAVE. 

nay, he even believed, at last, that he was no 
longer an mhabitant of the earth — that he had 
been translated, even m the body, to the place 
of torment — in other words, that he was in hell 
itself, the prey of the devils, who would pres- 
ently be let loose upon him. It w^as at this 
moment the miners in search of him made their 
appearance ; they lighted upon his sack, lying 
where he had thrown it, and set up a great shout, 
which was the first intimation he had of their 
approach. He started up, and seeing them in 
the distance, the half naked negroes in advance, 
all swinging their torches aloft, he, not doubting 
they were those identical devils whose appear- 
ance he had been expecting, took to his heels, 
yelling lustily for mercy ; nor did he stop, not- 
withstanding the calls of his amazed friends, 
until he had fallen a second time over the rocks, 
where he lay on his face, roaring for pity, until, 
by dint of much pulUng and shaking, he was 
convinced that he was still in the w orld and the 
Mammoth Cave." Such is the story of the 
Haunted Chambers, the name having been given 
to commemorate the incident. 



CHAPTER III. 

Stalagmite Pillars — The Bell — Vulcan's Furnace — Register Rooms- 
Stalagmite Hall or Gothic Chapel — Devil's Ami- Chair — Elephant's 
Head — Lover's Leap — Napoleon's Dome — Salts Cave — Annetti's 
Dome. 

Resuming our explorations in this most inter- 
esting avenue, we soon came in sight of stal- 
agmite pillars, reaching from the floor to the 
ceiling, once perhaps white and translucent, but 
now black and begrimed with smoke. At this 
point we were startled by the hollow tread of 
our feet, caused by the proximity of another 
large avenue underneath, which the guide assur- 
ed us he had often visited. In this neighbor- 
hood too, there are a number of Stalactites, one of 
which was called the Bell, which on being struck, 
sounded like the deep bell of a cathedral ; but it 
now no longer tolls, having been broken in twain 
by a visiter from Philadelphia some years ago. 
Further on our way, we passed Louisa's Bower 
and Vulcan's Furnace, where there is a heap, not 
3* 



38 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

unlike cinders in appearance, and some dark 
colored water, in which I suppose the great forger 
used to slake his iron and perhaps his bolts. 
Next in order and not very distant are the new 
and old Register Rooms. Here on the ceiling 
which is as smooth and white as if it had been 
finished off by the plasterer, thousands of names 
have been traced by the smoke of a candle — 
names which can create no pleasing associations 
or recollections ; names unknown to fame, and 
which might excite disgust, when read for the 
first time on the ceiling which they have dis- 
figured. 

Soon after leaving the old Register Room, 
we were halted by our guide, who took from 
us all the lamps excepting one. Having made 
certain arrangements, he cried aloud, "Come on ! " 
which we did, and in a few moments entered 
an apartment of surprising grandeur and mag- 
nificence. This apartment or hall is elliptical in 
shape and eighty feet long by fifty wide. Stal- 
agmite columns, of vast size nearly block up the 
two ends ; and two rows of pillars of smaller di- 
mensions, reaching Irom floor to ceiling -and equi- 
distant from the wall on either side, extend its 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 39 

entire length. Against the pillars, and in many 
places from the ceiling, our lamps were hanging, 
and, lighting up the whole space, exhibited to 
our enraptured sight a scene surpassingly grand, 
and well calculated to inspire feelings of solem- 
nity and aw e. This is the Stalagmite Hall, or 
as some call it, the Gothic Chapel, which no 
one can see under such circumstances as did 
our party, without being forcibly reminded of 
the old, very old cathedrals of Europe. Con- 
tinuing our walk we came to the Devil's Arm- 
Chair. This is a large Stalagmite column, in 
the centre of which is formed a capacious seat. 
Like most other visiters we seated ourselves in 
the chair of his Satanic Majesty, and drank sul- 
phur water dipped up from a small basin of rock, 
near the foot of the chair. Further on we pass- 
ed a number of Stalactites and Stalagmites, Na- 
poleon's Breast- Work, (behind which we found 
ashes and burnt cane,) the Elephant's Head, the 
Curtain, and arrived at last at the Lover's Leap. 
The Lover's Leap is a large pointed rock pro- 
jecting over a dark and gloomy hollo w^, thirty 
or more feet deep. Our guide told us that the 
young ladies often asked their beaux to take the 



40 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Lover's Leap, but that he never knew any to 
^' love hard enough " to attempt it. We descended 
into the hollow, immediately below the Lover's 
Leap, and entered to the left and at right-angle 
with our previous course, a passage or chasm in 
the rock, three feet wide and fifty feet high, 
which conducted us to the lower branch of the 
Gothic Avenue. At the entrance of this lower 
branch is an immensely large flat ro(^ ' called 
Gatewood's Dining Table, to the right of which 
is a cave, which we penetrated, as far as the 
Cooling Tub — a beautiful basin of water six 
feet wide and three deep — into which a small 
stream of the purest water pours itself from the 
ceiling and afterwards finds its way into the 
Flint Pit at no great distance. Returning, we 
wound around Gatewood's Dining Table, which 
nearly blocks up the w ay, and continued our 
walk along the low^er branch more than half 
a mile, passing Napoleon's Dome, the Cinder 
Banks, the Crystal Pool, the Salts Cave, etc., etc. 
Descending a few feet and leaving the cave 
which continues onwards, we entered, on our 
right, a place of great seclusion and grandeur, 
called Annetti's Dome. Through a crevice in 



MAMMOTH CAVE; 41 

the right wall of the dome is a waterfall. The 
water issues in a stream a foot in diameter, from 
a high cave in the side of the dome — falls upon 
the solid bottom, and passes off by a small chan- 
nel into the Cistern, which is directly on the 
pathway of the cave. The Cistern is a large 
pit, which is usually kept nearly full of water. 

Near the end of this branch, (the lower branch) 
there is a crevice in the ceiKng over the last 
spring, through which the sound of water may 
be heard falling in a cave or open space above. 

Highly gratified with what we had now seen 
in the Gothic Avenue, w^e concluded to pursue 
it no further, but to retrace our steps to the Main 
Cave, regretting however, that we had not visited 
the Salts Cave, (a branch of the Gothic Avenue,) 
on being told, when too late, that it w ould have 
amply compensated us for our trouble, being rich 
in fine specimens of Epsom or Glauber salts. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The B all-Room— Willie's Spring— Wandering Willie— Ox-Stalls— Gi- 
ant's Coffin — Acute- Angle or Gi-eat Bend — Range of Cabins — Curative 
Properties of the Cave Air long known. 

We are now again in the Main Cave or Grand 
Gallery, which continues to increase in interest 
as we advance, eliciting from our party frequent 
and loud exclamations of admiration and wonder. 
Not many steps from the stairs leading down 
from the Gothic Avenue into the Main Cave, 
is the Ball-Room, so called from its singular 
adaptedness to such a purpose ; for there is an 
orchestra, fifteen or eighteen feet high, large 
enough to accommodate a hundred or more 
musicians, with a gallery extending back to the 
level of the high embankment near the Gothic 
Avenue ; besides which, the avenue here is lofty, 
wide, straight and perfectly level for several 
hundred feet. At the trifling expense of a plank 
floor, seats and lamps, a ball-room might be 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 43 

had, if not more splendid, at all events more 
grand and magnificent than any other on earth. 
The effect of music here would be truly inspir- 
ing ; but the awful solemnity of the place may, in 
the opinion of many, prevent its being used as 
a temple of Terpsichore. Extremes, we are 
told, often meet. The same objection has been 
urged against the Cave's being used for religious 
services. ^'No clergyman," " remarked a distin- 
guished divine, " be he ever so eloquent could 
concentrate the attention of his congregation in 
such a place. The God of nature speaks too 
loud here for man to he heard. " 

Leaving these points to be settled as they 
may, we will proceed onwards ; the road now is 
broad and fine, and in many places dusty. Next 
in order is Willie's Spring, a beautifully fluted 
niche in the left hand wall, caused by the con- 
tinual attrition of water trickling down into a 
basin below. This spring derives its name from 
that of a young gentleman, the son of a highly re- 
spectable clergyman of Cincinnati, who, in the 
spirit of romance, assumed the name of Wan- 
dering Willie, and taking with him his violin, 
marched on foot to the Cave, Wishing no 



44 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

better place in which to pass the night, he select- 
ed this spot, requesting the guide to call for him 
in the morning. This he did and found him 
fast asleep upon his bed of earth, with his violin 
beside him — ever since it has been called Willie's 
Spring. Just beyond the spring and near the 
left wall, is the place where the oxen were fed 
during the time of the miners; and strewn around 
are a great many corn-cobs, to all appearance, 
and in fact, perfectly sound, although they have 
lain there for more than thirty years. In this 
neighborhood is a niche of great size in the wall 
on the left, and reaching from the roof to the bot- 
tom of a pit more than thirty feet deep, down the 
sides of which, water of the purest kind is contin- 
ually dripping, and is afterwards conducted to a 
large trough, from which the invahds obtain their 
supply of water, during their sojourn in the Cave. 
Near the bottom, this pit or well expands into a 
large room, out of which, there is no opening. It 
is probable that Richardson's Springin the Desert- 
ed Chambers is supplied from this well. Passing 
the Well Cave, Rocky Cave, etc., etc., we arrived 
at the Giant's Coffin, a huge rock on the right, 
thus named from its singular resemblance in 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 45 

shape to a coffin; its locality, apart from its 
great size, renders it particularly conspicuous, 
as all must pass around it, in leaving the Main 
Cave, to visit the rivers and the thousand won- 
ders beyond. At this point commence those 
incrustations, w hich, portraying every imaginable 
figure on the ceiling, afford full scope to the 
fanciful to picture what they will, whether of 
"birds, or beasts, or creeping things," About 
a hundred yards beyond the Coffin, the Cave 
makes a majestic curve, and sweeping round 
the Great Bend or Acute- Angle, resumes its gen- 
eral course. Here the guide ignited a Bengal 
light. This vast amphitheatre became illumin- 
ated, and a scene of enchantment was exposed 
to our view. Poets may conceive, but no lan- 
guage can describe, the splendor and subhmity 
of the scene. The rapturous exclamations of 
our party might have been heard from afar, 
both up and down this place of wonders. Op- 
posite to the Great Bend, is the entrance of the 
Sick Room Cave, so called from the fact of the 
sudden sickness of a visiter a few years ago, sup- 
posed to have been caused by his smoking, with 
others, cigars in one of its most remote and con- 
4 



46 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

fined nooks. Immediately beyond the Great 
Bend, a row of cabins, built for consumptive 
patients, commences. All of these are framed 
buildings, with the exception of two, which are 
of stone. They stand in line, from thirty to 
one hundred feet apart, exhibiting a picturesque, 
yet at the same time, a gloomy and mournful 
appearance. They are well furnished, and with- 
out question, would with good and comfortable 
accommodations, pure air and uniform temper- 
ature, cure the pulmonary consumption. The 
invalids in the Cave ought to be cured; but I 
doubt whether the Cave air or any thing else 
can cure confirmed Phthisis. A knowledge of 
the curative properties of the Cave air, is not, 
as is generally supposed, of recent date. It has 
been long known. A physician of great respect- 
abihty, formerly a member of Congress from the 
district adjoining the Cave, was so firmly con- 
vinced of the medical properties of its air, as to 
express more than twenty years ago, as his opin- 
ion, that the State of Kentucky ought to pur- 
chase it, with a view to establish a hospital in 
one of its avenues. Again the author of " Cala- 
var," himself a distinguished professor of med- 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 47 

Icine, makes the following remarks in relation 
to the Cave air, as far back as 1832, the date 
of his visit: 

^'It is always temperate. Its purity, judging 
from its effects on the lungs, and from other cir- 
cumstances, is remarkable, though in what its 
purity consists, I know not. But, be its compo- 
sition what it may, it is certain its effects upon 
the spirits aud bodily powers of visiters, are ex- 
tremely exhilarating ; and that it is not less salu- 
brious than enlivening. The nitre diggers were 
a famously healthy set of men ; it w as a com- 
mon and humane practice to employ laborers of 
enfeebled constitutions, who w^ere soon restored 
to health and strength, though kept at constant 
labour; and more joyous, merry fellows were 
never seen. The oxen, of which several were 
kept day and night in the Cave, hauling the 
nitrous earth, were after a month or two of toil, 
in as fine condition for the shambles, as if fatten- 
ed in the stall. The ordinary visiter, though 
rambling a dozen hours or more, over paths of 
the roughest and most difficult kind, is seldom 
conscious of fatigue, until he returns to the upper 
air ; and then it seems to him, at least in the 



48 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

summer season, that he has exchanged the at- 
mosphere of paradise for that of a charnel warm- 
ed by steam — all without is so heavy, so dank, 
so dead, so mephitic. Awe and even apprehen- 
sion, if that has been felt, soon yield to the in- 
fluence of the delicious air of the Cave; and 
after a time a certain jocund feeling is found 
mingled with the deepest impressions of sublim- 
ity, which there are so many objects to awaken. 
I recommend all broken hearted lovers and 
dyspeptic dandies to carry their complaints to 
the Mammoth Cave, where they will undoubt- 
edly find themselves '^translated" into very bux- 
om and happy persons before they are aware 
of it." 



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CHAPTER V. 

Slav Chamber — Salts Room — Indian Houses — Cross Rooms—Black 
Chambers — A Dmner Party — Humble Chute — Solitary Cave — Fairy 
Grotto — Chief City or Temple — Lee's Description — Return to the Hotel. 

The Star Chamber next attracted our atten- 
tion. It presents the most perfect optical illu- 
sion imaginable ; in looking up to the ceiling, 
which is here very high, you seem to see the 
very firmament itself, studded with stars; and 
afar off, a comet with its long, bright tail. Not 
far from this Star Chamber, may be seen, in a 
cavity in the wall on the right, and about twenty 
feet above the floor, an oak pole about ten 
feet long and six inches in diameter, with two 
round sticks of half the thickness and three feet 
long, tied on to it transversely, at about four feet 
apart. By means of a ladder we ascended to 
the cavity, and found the pole to be firmly fixed 
— one end resting on the bottom of the cavity, 
and the other reaching across and forced into a 
4* 



50 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

crevice about three feet above. We supposed 
that this was a ladder once used by the former 
inhabitants of the Cave, in getting the salts 
which are incrusted on the walls in many places. 
Doct. Locke, of the Medical College of Ohio, is, 
however, of the opinion, that on it was placed a 
dead body, — similar contrivances being used by 
some Indian tribes on which to place their dead. 
Although thousands have passed the spot, still 
this was never seen until the fall of 1841. Ages 
have doubtless rolled by since this was placed 
here, and yet it is perfectly sound ; even the bark 
which confines the transverse pieces shows no 
marks of decay. 

We passed through some Side Cuts, as they 
are called. These are caves opening on the 
sides of the avenues ; and after running for some 
distance, entering them again. Some of them 
exceed half a mile in length ; but most generally 
they are short. In many of them, " quartz, cal- 
cedony, red ochre, gypsum, and salts are found." 
The walking, in this part of the avenue, being 
rough, we progressed but slowly, until we reached 
the Salts Room ; here we found the walls and 
ceiling covered with salts hanging in crystals. 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 51 

The least agitation of the air causing flakes of 
the crystals to fall like snow. In the Salts 
Room are the Indian houses, under the rocks— 
small spaces or rooms completely covered — some 
of which contain ashes and cane partly burnt." 
The Cross Kooms, which w^e next come to, is 
a grand section of this avenue ; the ceihng has 
an unbroken span of one hundred and seventy 
feet, without a column to support it ! The 
mouths of two caves are seen from this point, 
neither of which we visited, and much to our 
loss, as will appear from the following extract 
from the " Notes on the Mammoth Cave, by E. 
F. Lee, Esq., Civil Engineer," in relation to one 
of them — the Black Chambers: 

" At the ruins in the Black Chambers, there 
are a great many large blocks composed of dif- 
ferent strata of rocks, cemented together, resem- 
bling the walls, pedestals, cornices, etc., of some 
old castle, scattered over the bottom of the Cave. 
The avenue here is so wide, as to make it quite 
a task to walk from one side to the other. On 
the right hand, beyond the ruins, you enter the 
right branch, on the same level — the ceihng of 
which is regularly arched. Through the Big 



52 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Chimneys you ascend into an upper room, about 
the size of the Main Cave, the bottom of which 
is higher than the ceiHng of the one below. 
Proceeding on we soon heard the low murmur- 
ings of a water-fall, — the sound of wdiich be- 
comes louder and louder as we advanced, until 
we reached the Cataract. In the roof are per- 
forations as large as a hogshead, on the right 
hand side, from which water is ever falling, on 
ordinary occasions in not very large quantities; 
but after heavy rains — in torrents; and with a 
horrible roar that shakes the walls and resounds 
afar through the Cave. It is at such times that 
these cascades are worthy the name of cata- 
racts, which they bear. The water falling into 
a great funnel-shaped pit, immediately vanishes." 
Here we concluded to dine, and at quite a fash- 
ionable hour — 4, P. M. The guide arranged 
the plates, knives and forks, wine-glasses, etc., 
on a huge table of rock, and announced, — "Din- 
ner is ready ! " We filled our plates with the ex- 
cellent viands prepared at the Cave House, and 
seating ourselves on the rocks or nitre earth, 
partook of our repast with the gusto of gour- 
mands, and quaffing, ever and anon, wines which 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 53 

would have done credit to the Astor or Tre- 
mont House. " There may be," remarked our 
corpulent friend B., " a great deal of romance in 
this way of eating — with your plate on your lap, 
and seated on a rock or a lump of nitre earth — 
but for my part I would rather dispense with 
the poetry of the thing and eat a good dinner, 
whether above or below ground, from off a bona- 
fide table, and seated in a good substantial chair. 
The proprietor ought to have at all the "water- 
ing places, (and they are numerous,) tables, 
chairs, and the necessary table furniture, that 
visitors might partake of their collations in some 
degree of comfort." The guide who, by the 
way, is a very inteUigent and facetious fellow, 
was much amused at the suggestion of our friend, 
and remarked that "the owner of the Cave, Doct. 
Croghan, lived near Louisville, and that the 
only way to get such ^fixings' at the watering 
places, was to write to him on the subject." 
" Then, " said B., " for the sake of those who 
may follow after us, I will take it upon myself 
to write." 

From this point you have a view of the Main 
Avenue on our left, pursuing its general course, 



54 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

and exhibiting the same solemn grandeur as from 
the commencement, — and directly before us the 
way to the Humble Chute and the Cataract. 
The Humble Chute is the entrance to the Soli- 
tary Chambers ; before entering which, we must 
crawl on our hands and knees some fifteen or 
twenty feet under a low arch. It is appropri- 
ately named ; as is the Solitary Chambers which 
we have now entered. You feel here, — to use 
an expression of one of our party,— "out of the 
world." Without dwelling on the intervening 
objects — although they are numerous and not 
without interest, — we will enter at once the 
Fairy Grotto of the Solitary Cave. It is in truth 
a fairy grotto ; a countless number of Stalactites 
are seen extending, at irregular distances, from 
the roof to the floor, of various sizes and of the 
most fantastic shapes — some quite straight, 
some crooked, some large and hollow — forming 
irregularly fluted columns ; and some solid near 
the ceiling, and divided lower down, into a great 
number of small branches like the roots of trees ; 
exhibiting the appearance of a coral grove. 
Hanging our lamps to the incrustations on the 
columns, the grove of Stalactites became faintly 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 55 

lighted up, disclosing a scene of extraordinary 
wildness and beauty. " This is nothing to what 
you'll see on the other side of the rivers," cries 
our guide, smiling at our enthusiastic admiration. 
With all its present beauty, this grotto is far 
from being what it was, before it was despoiled 
and robbed some eight or nine years ago, by a 
set of vandals, who, through sheer wantonness, 
broke many of the stalactites, leaving them 
strewn on the floor — a disgustful memorial of 
their vulgar propensities and barbarian-like con- 
duct. 

Returning from the Fairy Grotto, we entered 
the Main Cave at the Cataract, and continued 
our walk to the Chief City or Temple, which is 
thus described by Lee, in his " Notes on the 
Mammoth Cave :" 

" The Temple is an immense vault covering 
an area of two acres, and covered by a single 
dome of solid rock, one hundred and twenty 
feet high. It excels in size the Cave of Staffa; 
and rivals the celebrated vault in the Grotto of 
Antiparos, which is said to be the largest in the 
world. In passing through from one end to the 
other, the dome appears to follow like the sky 



56 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

in passing from place to place on the earth. In 
the middle of the dome there is a large mound 
of rocks rising on one side nearly to the top, 
very steep and forming what is called the Moun- 
tain. AVhen first I ascended this mound from 
the cave below, I was struck with a feeling of 
awe more deep and intense, than any thing that 
I had ever before experienced. I could only 
observe the narrow circle which was illuminated 
immediately around me ; above and beyond 
was apparently an unlimited space, in which 
the ear could catch not the slightest sound, nor 
the eye find an object to rest upon. It was 
filled with silence and darkness ; and yet I knew 
that I was beneath the earth, and that this space, 
however large it might be, w^as actually bounded 
by solid walls. My curiosity was rather excited 
than gratified. In order that I might see the 
whole in one connected view, I built fires in 
many places with the pieces of cane which I 
found scattered among the rocks. Then taking 
my stand on the Mountain, a scene was present- 
ed of surprising magnificence. On the opposite 
side the strata of gray limestone, breaking up by 
steps from the bottom, could scarcely be dis- 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 57 

cerned in the distance bj the ghmniering hght. 
Above was the lofty dome, closed at the top 
by a smooth oval slab, beautifully defined in 
the outline, from which the w alls sloped away on 
the right and left into thick darkness. Every 
one has heard of the dome of the Mosque 
of St. Sophia, of St. Peters and St. Paul's; 
they are never spoken of but in terms of ad- 
miration, as the chief works of architecture, 
and among the noblest and most stupendous 
examples of what man can do when aided by 
science ; and yet when compared with the dome 
of this Temple, they sink into comparative in- 
significance. Such is the surpassing grandeur 
of Nature's works." 

To us, the Temple seemed to merit the glow- 
ing description above given, but what would 
Lee think, on being told, that since the discovery 
of the rivers and the w^orld of beauties beyond 
them, not one person in fifty visits the Temple 
or the Fairy Grotto ; they are now looked upon 
as tame and uninteresting. The hour being now 
late, we concluded to proceed no further, but to 
return to the hotel, where we arrived at 11, P. M. 
5 



CHAPTER VI. 

Arrival of a large Party — Second Visit — Lamps Extinguished — Laugh- 
able Confusion — Wooden Bowl — Deserted Chambers — Richardson's 
Side-Saddle Pit— The Labyrinth— Louisa's Dome— Gorin's Dome- 
Bottomless Pit — Separation of our Paily. 

On being summoned to breakfast the next 
morning, we ascertained that a large party of 
ladies and gentlemen had arrived during our 
absence, who, like ourselves, were prepared to 
enter the Cave. They, however, were for hur- 
rying over the rivers, to the distant points be- 
yond — we, for examining leisurely the avenues 
on this side. At 8 o'clock, both parties accom- 
panied by their respective guides and making a 
very formidable array, set out from the hotel, hap- 
py in the anticipation of the "sights to be seen." 
It was amusing to hear the remarks, and to 
witness the horror of some of the party on first 
beholding the mouth of the Cave. Oh! it is so 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 59 

frightful! — It is so cold! — I cannot go in ! Not- 
withstanding all this, curiosity prevailed, and 
down we went — arranged our lamps, which 
being extinguished in passing through the door- 
way by the strong current of air rushing out- 
wards, there arose such a clamor, such laughter, 
such screaming, such crying out for the guides, 
as though all Bedlam had broke loose, — the 
guides exerting themselves to quiet apprehen- 
sions, and the visiters of yesterday knowing that 
there was neither danger nor just cause of alarm, 
doing their utmost to counteract their efforts, by 
well feigned exclamations of terror. At length the 
lamps were re-lighted and order being restored, 
onward we went. The Vestibule and Church 
were each in turn illuminated, to the enthusiastic 
delight of all — even those of the party, who 
were but now so terrified, were loud in their 
expressions of admiration and wonder. Arrived 
at the Giant's Coffin, we leave the Main Cave 
to enter regions very dissimilar to those we have 
seen. A narrow passage behind the Coffin 
leads to a circular room, one hundred feet in di- 
ameter, with a low roof, called the Wooden 
Bowl, in allusion to its figure, or as some say, 



60 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

from a wooden bowl having been found here by 
some old miner. This Bowl is the vestibule of 
the Deserted Chambers. On the right, are the 
Steeps of Time, (why so called we are left to 
conjecture,) down which, descending about twen- 
ty feet, and almost perpendicularly for the first 
ten, we enter the Deserted Chambers, which in 
their course present features extremely wild, 
terrific and multiform. For two hundred yards 
the ceiling as you advance is rough and broken, 
but further on, it is waving, white and smooth 
as if worn by water. At Richardson's Spring, 
the imprint of moccasins and of children's feet, 
of some by-gone age, were recently seen. There 
are more pits in the Deserted Chambers than 
in any other portion of the Cave; and among 
the most noted are the Covered Pit, the Side- 
Saddle Pit and the Bottomless Pit Indeed the 
whole range of these chambers, is so interrupted 
by pits, and throughout is so irregular and ser- 
pentine and so bewildering from the number of 
its branches, that the visiter, doubtful of his foot- 
ing, and uncertain as to his course, is soon made 
sensible of the prudence of the regulation, which 
enjoins him, "not to leave the guide." "The 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 61 

Covered Pit is in a little branch to the left ; 
this pit is twelve or fifteen feet in diameter, 
covered with a thin rock, around which a nar- 
row crevice extends, leaving only a small sup- 
port on one side. There is a large rock resting 
on the centre of the cover. The sound of a 
waterfall may be heard from the pit but cannot 
be seen." The Side-Saddle Pit is about twenty 
feet long and eight feet wide, with a margin 
about three feet high, and extending lengthwise 
ten feet, against which one may safely lean, and 
view the interior of the pit and dome. After a 
short walk from this place, we came to a ladder 
on our right, which conducted us down about 
fifteen feet into a narrow pass, not more than 
five feet wide; this pass is the Labyrinth, one end 
of which leads to the Bottomless Pit, entering it 
about fifty feet down, and the other after va- 
rious windings, now up, now down, over a 
bridge, and up and down ladders, conducts you 
to one of the chief glories of the Cave, — Gorins 
Dome ; which, strange to tell, w^as not discover- 
ed until a few years ago. Immediately behind 
the ladder, there is a narrow opening in the 
rock, extending up very nearly to the cave above, 
5* 



62 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

which leads about twenty feet back to Louisa's 
Dome, a pretty Uttle place of not more than 
twelve feet in diameter, but of twice that height. 
This dome is directly under the centre of the 
cave we had just been traversing, and when 
lighted up, persons within it can be plainly seen 
from above, through a crevice in the rock. Ar- 
rived at Gorin's Dome, we w^ere forcibly struck 
by the seeming appearance of design, in the 
arrangement of the several parts, for the special 
accommodation of visiters — even with reference 
to their number. The Labyrinth, which we 
followed up, brought us at its termination, to a 
window or hole, about four feet square, three 
feet above the floor, opening into the interior 
of the dome, about midway between the bottom 
and top ; the wail of rock being at this spot, 
not more than eighteen inches thick ; and con- 
tinuing around, and on the outside of the dome, 
along a gallery of a few feet in width, for twenty 
or more paces, we arrived at another opening 
of much larger size, ehgibly disposed, and com- 
manding, like the lirst, a view of very nearly the 
whole interior space. Whilst we are arranging 
ourselves, the guide steals away, passes down. 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 63 

down, one knows not how, and is presently 
seen by the dim Hght of his lamp, fifty feet below, 
standing near the wall on the inside of the dome. 
The dome is of sohd rock, with sides apparently 
fluted and polished, and perhaps two hundred 
feet high. Immediately in front and about thirty 
feet from the window, a huge rock seems sus- 
pended from above and arranged in folds like a 
curtain. Here we are then, the guide fifty feet 
below us. Some of the party thrusting their 
heads and, in their anxiety to see, their bodies 
through the window into the vast and gloomy 
dome of two hundred feet in height. The win- 
dow is not large enough to afford a view to all 
at once, they crowd one on the top of the other ; 
the more cautious, and those who do not like 
to be squeezed, stand back ; but still holding fast 
to the garments of their friends for fear they 
might in the ecstasy of their feelings, leap into the 
frightful abyss into which they are looking. Sud- 
denly the guide ignites a Bengal light. The 
vast dome is radiant with light. Above, as far 
as the eye can reach, are seen the shining sides of 
the fluted walls ; below, the yawning gulf is ren- 
dered the more terrific, by the pallid light ex- 



64 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

posing to view its vast depth, the whole dis- 
playing a scene of sublimity and splendor, such 
as words have not power to describe. Return- 
ing, we ascended the ladder near Louisa's Dome, 
and continued on, having the Labyrinth on our 
right side until it terminates in the Bottomless 
Pit. This pit terminates also the range of the 
Deserted Chambers, and was considered the Ul- 
tima Thule of all explorers, until within the last 
few years, when Mr. Stephenson of Georgetown, 
Ky. and the intrepid guide, Stephen, conceived 
the idea of reaching the opposite side by throw- 
ing a ladder across the frightful chasm. This 
they accomplished, and on this ladder, extend- 
ing across a chasm of twenty feet wide and 
near two hundred deep, did these daring explor- 
ers cross to the opposite side, and thus open the 
way to all those splendid discoveries, which 
have added so much to the value and renown of 
the Mammoth Cave. The Bottomless Pit is 
somewhat in the shape of a horse-shoe, having 
a tongue of land twenty seven feet long, running 
out into the middle of it. From the end of this 
point of land, a substantial bridge has been 
thrown across to the cave on the opposite side. 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 65 

While standing on the bridge, the guide lets 
down a lighted paper into the deep abyss ; it 
descends twisting and turning, lower and lower, 
and is soon lost in total darkness, leaving us to 
conjecture, as to what may be below. Crossing 
the bridge to the opposite cave, we find ourselves 
in the midst of rocks of the most gigantic size 
lying along the edge of the pit and on our left 
hand. Above the pit is a dome of great size, but 
which, from its position, few have seen. Pro- 
ceeding along a narrow passage for some distance, 
we arrived at the point from which diverge 
two noted routes — the Winding Way and Pen- 
sico Avenue. Here we called a short halt ; then 
wishing our newly formed acquintances a safe 
voyage over the '^ deep waters, " we parted ; 
they taking the left hand to the Winding Way 
and the rivers, and we the right to Pensico 
Avenue. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Pensico Avenue — Great Crossings — Pine Apple Bush — Angelica's Grotto 
— "Winding Way — Fat Friend in Trouble — Relief Hall — Bacon Cham- 
ber— Bandit's Hall. 

Pensico Avenue averages about fifty feet in 
vs^idth, with a height of about thirty feet ; and 
is said to be two miles long. It unites in an 
eminent degree the truly beautiful with the 
sublime, and is highly interesting throughout 
its entire extent. For a quarter of a mile from 
the entrance, the roof is beautifully arched, about 
twelve feet high and sixty wide, and formerly 
was encrusted with rosettes and other formations, 
nearly all of which have been taken away or 
demolished, leaving this section of the Cave 
quite denuded. The walking here is excellent ; 
a dozen persons might run abreast for a quarter 
of a mile to Bunyan's Way, a branch of the 
avenue, leading on to the river. At this point 
the avenue changes its features of beauty and 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 67 

regularity, for those of wild grandeur and sub- 
limity, which it preserves to the end. The way, 
no longer smooth and level, is frequently inter- 
rupted and turned aside by huge rocks, which 
He tumbled around, in all imaginable disorder. 
The roof now becomes very lofty and imposingly 
magnificent ; its long, pointed or lancet arches, 
forcibly reminding you of the rich and gorgeous 
ceilings of the old Gothic Cathedrals, at the 
same time solemnly impressing you with the 
conviction that this is a "building not made with 
hands." No one, not dead to all the more 
refined sensibilities of our nature, but must ex- 
claim, in beholding the sublime scenes which 
here present themselves, this is not the work of 
man ! No one can be here without being remind- 
ed of the all pervading presence of the great 
^'Father of all." 

"What, but God, pervades, adjusts and agitates the whole! " 

Not far from the point at which the avenue 
assumes the rugged features, which now char- 
acterize it, we separated from our guide, he 
continuing his straight-forward course, and we 
descending gradually a few feet and entering a 



68 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

tunnel of fifteen feet wide on our left, the ceiling 
twelve or fourteen feet high, perfectly arched 
and beautifully covered with white incrustations, 
very soon reached the Great Crossings. Here 
the guide jumped down some six or eight feet 
from the avenue which we had left, into the 
tunnel where we were standing, and crossing it, 
climbed up into the avenue, which he pursued 
for a short distance or until it united with the 
tunnel, where he again joined us. In separating 
from, then crossing, and again uniting with the 
avenue, it describes with it something like the 
figure 8. The name, Great Crossings, is not 
unapt. It w^as however, not given, as our 
inteUigent guide veritably assured us, in honor 
of the Great Crossings where the man hves who 
killed Tecumseh, but because two great caves 
cross here; and moreover said he, "the valiant 
Colonel ought to change the name of his place, 
as no two places in a State should bear the 
same name, and this being the g?'eat place ought 
to have the preference." 

Not very far from this point, we ascended a 
hill on our left, and walking a short distance 
over our shoe-tops in dry nitrous earth, in a 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 69 

direction somewhat at a right angle with the 
avenue below, we arrived at the Pine Apple 
Bush, a large column, composed of a white, 
soft, crumbling material, with bifurcations ex- 
tending from the floor to the ceiling. At a short 
distance, either to the right or left, you have 
a fine view of the avenue some twenty feet 
})elow, both up and down. Why this crumbling 
stalactite is called the Pine Apple Bush, I can- 
not divine. It stands however in a charming, 
secluded spot, inviting to repose ; and w^e luxu- 
riated in inhaling the all-inspiring air, while 
reclining on the clean, soft and dry salt petre 
earth. 

All lovers of romantic scenery ought to 
visit this avenue, and all dyspeptic hypochon- 
driacs and love-sick despondents should do 
likewise, for there is something wonderfully ex- 
hilarating in the air of Pensico. Our friend 
B. remarked while rolling on the salt petre earth 
at the Pine Apple Bush, that he felt '-especially 
happy," and whether from sympathy, air or 
what not, we all partook of the same feeling. 
The guide seeing the position of our fat friend, 
and hearing his remark, said, laughing most 
G 



70 . MAMMOTH CAVE. 

immoderately, "these sort of feelings would 
come over one, now and then in the Cave, but 
wait till you get in the Winding Way and see 
how you feel then." 

Having descended into the avenue we had 
left, we passed a number of stalactites and 
stalagmites, bearing a remarkable resemblance 
to coral, and a hundred or more paces beyond, 
arrived at a recess on the left, lined with innu- 
merable crystals of dog-tooth spar, shining most 
brilliantly, called Angelica's Grotto. One would 
think it almost sacrilege to deface a spot hke 
this; yet, did a Clergyman (the back of the 
guide being turned,) deliberately demolish a 
number of beautiful crystals to inscribe the in- 
itials of his name. 

Returning to the head of Pensico Avenue, 
we turned to our right, and entered the narrow 
pass which leads to the river, pursuing which, 
for a few hundred yards, descending all the 
while, at one or two places down a ladder or 
stone steps, we came to a path cut through a 
high and broad embankment of sand, which very 
soon conducted us to the much talked of and 
anxiously looked for Winding Way. The 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 71 

Winding Way, has, in the opinion of many, 
been channeled in the rock by the gradual attri- 
tion of water. If this be so, and appearances 
seem to support such behef, at what early age 
of the world did the work commence? Was it 
not when "the earth was without form and 
void," thousands of years perhaps, before the 
date of the Mosaic account of the Creation? 
The Winding Way is one hundred and five feet 
long, eighteen inches wide, and from three to 
seven feet deep, widening out above, sufficiently 
to admit the free use of one's arms. It is 
throughout tortuous, a perfect zig-zag, the terror 
of the Falstaffs and the ladies of "fat, fair and 
forty," who have an instinctive dread of the trials 
to come, and are well aware of the merriment that 
their efforts to force a passage will excite among 
their companions of less length of girdle. Into 
this winding way, we entered in Indian file, and 
turning our right side, then our left, twisting this 
way, then that, had nearly made good the pas- 
sage, when our fat friend, who was puffing 
and blowing behind us like a high pressure engine, 
cried out, "Halt, ahead there! I am stuck as 
tight as a wedge in a log ! " Halt we did, when 



72 xMAMMOTH CAVE. 

the guide, looking at our friend, who was in truth 
"wedg'd in the rocky way and sticking fast," 
cried out, "I told you, when you said at the 
Pine Apple Bush, that you felt es])ecially happy, 
to wait till you got to the Winding Way, to see 
how you would feel then!" The imprisoned 
gentleman soon burst his bonds, not, however, 
without damage to his indispensables ; and at 
length forcing his way into Rehef Hall, he cried 
out, in the joy of his heart, while stretching 
himself and wiping the perspiration from his 
jolly, rubicund face, "never was a name more 
appropriate given to any place — Rehef I feel 
already the expansive faculty of the atmosphere, 
I can now breathe again." 

Relief Hall, w hicli you enter h'om the Wind- 
ing Way, at a right- angle, is very wide and lofty 
but not long ; turning to the right, we reached 
its termination at River Hall, a distance of per- 
haps, one hundred yards Here two routes pre- 
sent themselves ; the one to the left conducts to 
the Dead Sea and the Rivers, and that to the 
right, to the Bacon Chamber, the Bandit's Hall, 
the Mammoth Dome and an infinity of other 
caves, domes, etc. We will speak of the Bacon 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 73 

Chamber ; but before doing so, let us take our 
lunch. The air or exercise, or probably both, 
acted as powerful appetizers, and we soon gave 
proof that we needed not Stoughton's bitters to 
provoke an appetite. Having discussed a few 
glasses of excellent Hock, we left the Bacon 
Chamber, which is a pretty fair representation 
of a low ceiling, thickly hung with canvassed 
hams and shoulders ; and proceeded to the 
Bandit's Hall, up a steep ascent of twenty or 
thirty feet, rendered very difficult, by the huge 
rocks which obstructed the way and over which 
we were forced to clamber. The name is indic- 
ative of the spot. It is a vast and lofty chamber, 
the floor covered with a mountainous heap of 
rocks rising amphitheatrically almost to the 
ceiling, and so disposed as to furnish at different 
elevations, galleries or platforms, reaching im- 
mediately around the chamber itself or leading 
off into some of its hidden recesses. The guide 
is presently seen standing at a fearful height 
above, and suddenly a Bengal light, blazes up, 
"when the rugged roof, the frowning cliffs 
and the whole chaos of rocks are refulgent in the 
briUiant glare." The sublimity of the scene is 
beyond the powers of the imagination. 
6* 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Mammolh Dome — First Discovercvs — Little Dome — Tale of a Lamp — 
Return. 

From the Bandit's Hall, diverge two caves ; 
one of which, the left, leads yon to a multitude 
of domes ; and the right, to one which, par ex- 
cellence, is called the Mammoth Dome. Taking 
the right, we arrived, after a rugged walk of 
nearly a mile, to a platform, which commands 
an indistinct view of this dome of domes. It 
was discovered by a German gentleman and the 
guide Stephen about two years ago, but was not 
explored until some months after, w hen it was 
visited by a party of four or five, accompanied 
by two guides, and well prepared with ropes, &c. 
From the platform, the guides Avere let down 
about twenty feet, by means of a rope, and upon 
reaching the ground below^ they found them- 
selves on the side of a hill, which, descending 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 75 

about fifty feet, brought them immediately under 
the Great Dome, from the summit of which, 
there is a water-fall This dome is near four 
hundred feet high, and is justly considered one 
of the most sublime and wonderful spectacles of 
this most wonderful of caverns. From the bot- 
tom of the dome they ascended the hill to the 
place to which they had been lowered from the 
platform, and continuing thence up a very steep 
hill, more than one hundred feet, they reached 
its summit. Arrived at the summit, a scene of 
awful grandeur and magnificence is presented to 
the view. Looking down the declivity, you see 
far below to the left, the visiters whom you have 
left behind, standing on the platform or termina- 
tion of the avenue along which they had come ; 
and lower down still, the bottom of the Great 
Donie itself. Above, tw^o hundred and eighty 
feet, is the ceiling, lost in the obscurity of space 
and distance. The height of the ceihng was 
determined by E. F. Lee, civil engineer. This 
fact in regard to the elevation of the ceiling and 
the locality of the Great Hall, was subsequently 
ascertained, by finding on the summit of the hill, 
(a spot never before trodden by man,) an iron 



76 xMAMMOTH CAVE. 

lamp ! ! The astonishment of the guides, as 
well as of the whole party, on beholding the 
lamp, can be easily imagined ; and to this day 
they would have been ignorant of its history, but 
for tlie accidental circumstance of an old man 
being at the Cave Hotel, who, thirty years ago, 
was engaged as a miner in the saltpetre estab= 
Ushment of Wilkins & Gratz. He, on being 
shown the lamp, said at once, that it had been 
found under the crevice pit (a fact that sur- 
prised all,); that during the time Wilkins & 
Gratz were engaged in the manufacture of salt- 
petre, a Mr. Gatewood informed Wilkins, that 
in all probabihty, the richest nitre earth was un- 
der the crevice pit. The depth of this pit being 
then unknown, Wilkins, to ascertain it, got a 
rope of 45 feet long, and fastening this identical 
lamp to the end of it, lowered it into the pit, in 
the doing of which, the string caught on fire, 
and down fell the lamp. Wilkins made an offer 
of two dollars to any one of the miners who 
would descend the pit and bring up the lamp. 
His offer was accepted by a man, who, in con- 
sequence of his diminutive stature, was nick- 
named Little Dave; and the rope being made 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 77 

fast about his waist, he, torch in hand, was low- 
ered to the full extent of the forty-five feet. Be- 
ing then drawn up, the poor fellow w^as found 
to be so excessively alarmed, that he could scarce- 
ly articulate ; but having recovered from his fright, 
and again with the full power of utterance, he 
declared that no money could tempt him to try 
again for the lamp ; and in excuse for such a 
determination, he related the most marvellous 
story of what he had seen — far exceeding the 
wonderful things which the unexampled Don 
Quixote de la Mancha declared he had seen in 
the deep cave of Montesinos. Dave was, in 
fact, suspended at the height of two hundred 
and forty feet above the level below. Such is 
the history of the lamp, as told by the old miner, 
Holton, the correctness of which was very soon 
verified; for guides having been sent to the 
place where the lamp was found, and persons 
at the same time stationed at the mouth of the 
crevice pit, their proximity was at once made 
manifest by the very audible sound of each 
other's voices, and by the fact that sticks thrown 
into the pit fell at the feet of the guides below, 
and were brought out by them. The distance 



78 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

from the mouth of the Cave to this pit, falls short 
of half a mile ; yet to reach the grand apartment 
immediately under it, requires a circuit to be 
made of at least three miles. The illumination 
of that portion of the Great Dome on the left, 
and of the hall on the top of the hill to the right, 
as seen from the platform, was unquestionably 
one of the most impressive spectacles we had 
witnessed ; but to be seen to advantage, another 
position ought to be taken by the spectator, and 
the dome with its towering height, and the hall 
on the summit of the hill, with its gigantic sta- 
lagmite columns, and ceiling two hundred feet 
high, illuminated by the simultaneous ignition of 
a number of Bengal lights, judiciously arranged. 
Such was the enthusiastic admiration of some 
foreigners on witnessing an illumination of the 
Great Dome and Hall, that they declared, it alone 
would compensate for a voyage across the 
Atlantic. With the partial illumination of the 
Great Dome, we closed our explorations on this 
side of the rivers, and retracing our steps, reached 
the hotel about sun-set. At mid-night, the party 
which separated from us at the entrance of Pen- 
sico Avenue, returned hom the points beyond 
the Echo river. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Third Visit — River Hall — Dead Sea — River Styx — Lethe — Echo River — 
Purgatoiy— Eyeless Fish— Supposed Boil of the Rivers— Sources and 
Outlet Unknown. 



Early the next morning, having made all the 
necessary preparations for the grand tour, which 
we were the more anxious to take from the glow- 
ing accounts of the party recently returned, we 
entered the cave immediately after an early break- 
fast, and proceeded rapidly on to River Hall. It 
was evident from the appearance of the flood 
here, that it had been recently overflown. 

*^ The cave, or the River Hall," remarks a 
fair and distinguished authoress, whose descrip- 
tion of the river scenery is so graphic, that I 
cannot do better than transcribe it throughout: 
" The River Hall descends like the slope of a 
mountain ; the ceiling stretches away — away be- 
fore you, vast and grand as the firmament at mid- 
night." Going on, and gradually ascending and 



80 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

keeping close to the right hand wall, you observe 
on your left " a steep precipice, over which you 
can look down by the aid of blazing missiles, upon 
a broad black sheet of water, eighty feet below, 
called the Dead Sea. This is an awfully im- 
pressive place ; the sights and sounds of which, 
do not easily pass from memory. He who has 
seen it, will have it vividly brought before him, 
by Alfieri's description of Filippo, ' only a tran- 
sient word or act gives us a short and dubious 
glimmer, that reveals to us the abysses of his be- 
ing — dark, lurid and terrific, as the throat of the 
infernal pool' Descending from the eminence, 
by a ladder of about twenty feet, we find our- 
selves among piles of gigantic rocks, " and one 
of the most picturesque sights in the world, is 
to see a file of men and women passing along 
those wild and scraggy paths, moving slowly — 
slowly, that their lamps may have time to illu- 
minate their sky-like ceiling and gigantic walls — 
disappearing behind high cliffs — sinking into ra- 
vines — their lights shining upwards through fis- 
sures in the rocks — then suddenly emerging from 
some abrupt angle, standing in the bright gleam 
of their lamps, relieved by the towering black 



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MAMMOTH CAVE. 81 

masses around them. He, who could paint the 
infinite variety of creation, can alone give an 
adequate idea of this marvellous region. As you 
pass along, you hear the roar of invisible water- 
falls ; and at the foot of the slope, the river Styx 
lies before you, deep and black, overarched with 
rock. The first glimpse of it brings to mind, 
the descent of Ulysses into hell, 

" Where the dai-k rock o'erhangs the infernal lake, 
And mingling streams eternal munnurs make." 

Across (or rather down) these unearthly waters, 
the guide can convey but four passengers at once. 
The lamps are fastened to the prow ; the im- 
ages of which, are reflected in the dismal pool 
If you are impatient of delay, or eager for new 
adventures, you can leave your companions lin- 
gering about the shore, and cross the Styx 
by a dangerous bridge of precipices overhead. 
In order to do this, you must ascend a steep chff, 
and enter a cave above, 300 yards long, from an 
egress of which, you find yourself on the bank 
of the river, eighty feet above its surface, com- 
manding a view of those in the boat, and those 
waiting on the shore. Seen from this height, 
7 



82 MAMMOTH CAVE, 

the lamps in the canoe glare like fiery eye-balls; 
and the passengers, sitting there so hushed and 
motionless, look hke shadows. The scene is so 
strangely funereal and spectral, that it seems as 
if the Greeks must have witnessed it, before 
they imagined Charon conveying ghosts to the 
dim regions of Pluto. Your companions thus 
seen, do indeed — 



Skim along the dusky glades, 

'hill airy souls, and visionary shades." 



Thin 



If you turn your eyes from the canoe to the par- 
ties of men and women whom you left waiting 
on the shore, you will see them by the gleam of 
their lamps, scattered in picturesque groups, loom- 
ing out in bold rehef from the dense darkness 
around them." 

Having passed the Styx, (much the smallest of 
the rivers,) you walk over a pile of large rocks, and 
are on the banks of Lethe ; and looking back, you 
will see a line of men and women descending the 
high hill from, the cave, which runs over the river 
Siyx. Here are two boats, and the parties, 
which have come by the two routes, down the 
Styx or over it, uniting, descend the Lethe about 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 83 

a quarter of a mile, the ceiling for the entire dis- 
tance being very high — certainly not less than 
fifty feet. On landing, you enter a level and 
lofty hall, called the Great Walk, which stretches 
to the banks of the Echo, a distance of three 
or four hundred yards. The Echo is truly 
a river: it is wide and deep enough, at all 
times, to float the largest steamer. At the point 
of embarkation, the arch is very low, not more 
than three feet, in an ordinary stage of water, 
being left for a boat to pass through. Passen- 
gers, of course, are obliged to double up, and lie 
upon each others shoulders, in a most uncom- 
fortable way, but their suffering is of short dura- 
tion ; in two boat lengths, they emerge to where 
the vault of the cave is lofty and wide. The 
boat in which we embarked was sufficiently 
large to carry twelve persons, and our voyage 
down the river was one of deep, indeed of most 
intense interest. The novelty, the grandeur, the 
magnificence of every thing around elicited un- 
bounded admiration and wonder. All sense of 
danger, (had any been experienced before,) was 
lost in the solemn, quiet sublimity of the scene. 






84 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

The rippling of the water caused by the motion 
of our boat is heard afar off. beatino; under the 
low arches and in the cavities of the rocks. The 
report of a pistol is as that of the heaviest artil- 
lery, and long and afar does the echo resound, 
like the muttering of distant thunder. The 
voice of song was raised on this dark, deep wa- 
ter, and the sound was as that of the most pow- 
erful choir. A full band of music on this river 
of echoes would indeed be overpowering. The 
aquatic excursion was more to our taste than 
any thing we had seen, and never can the im- 
pression it made be obhterated from our memo- 
ries. 

The Echo is three quarters of a mile long. A 
rise of the water of merely a few feet connects 
the three rivers. After long and heavy rains, 
these rivers sometimes rise to a perpendicular 
height of more than fifty feet ; and then they, as 
well as the cataracts, exhibit a most terrific ap- 
pearance. The low arch at the entrance of the 
Echo, can not be passed when there is a rise 
of water of even two feet. Once or twice par- 
ties have been caught on the further side by a 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 85 

sudden rise, and for a time their alarm was great, 
not knowing that there was an upper cave 
through which they could pass, that would lead 
them around the arch to the Great Walk. This 
upper cave, or passage, is called Purgatory, and 
is, for a distance of forty feet, so low, that per- 
sons have to crawl on their faces, or, as the 
guides say, snake it. We were pleased to learn 
that this passage would soon be sufficiently en- 
larged to enable persons to walk through erect. 
This accomplished, an excursion to Cleveland's 
Avenue may be made almost entirely by land, 
at the same time that all apprehensions of being 
caught beyond Echo will be removed. It is in 
these rivers, that the extraordinary white eye- 
less fish are caught — we secured two of them. 
There is not the slightest indication of an organ 
similar to an eye, to be discovered. They have 
been dissected by skillful anatomists, who de- 
clare that they are not only without eyes, but 
also develope other anomalies in their organiza- 
tion, singularly interesting to the naturalist. " The 
rivers of Mammoth Cave were never crossed 
till 1840. Great efforts have been made to dis- 
cover whence they come and whither they go, 



86 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

yet they still remain as much a mystery as ever 
— without beginning or end.; like eternity." 

" Darkly thoa glidest onward, 

Thou deep and hidden wave ! 
The laughing sunshine hath not look'd 

Into thy seci-et cave. 

Thy cun-ent makes no music — 

A hollow sound we hear ; 
A muffled voice of mystery, 

And know that thou art near. 

No brighter line of verdure 

Follows thy lonely way 
No fairy moss, or lily's cup, 

Is freshened by thy play." 

According to the barometrical measurement 
of Professor Locke, the rivers of the Cave are 
nearly on a level with Green River ; but the re- 
port of Mr. Lee, civil engineer, is widely differ- 
ent He says, " The bottom of the Little Bat 
Room Pit is one hundred and twenty feet he- 
loiv the bed of Green River. The Bottomless 
Pit is also deeper than the bed of Green River, 
and so far as a surveyor's level can be reUed on, 
the same may be said of the Cavern Pit and 
some others." The rivers of the Cave were un- 
known at the time of Mr. Lee's visit in 1835, 
but they are unquestionably lower than the hot- 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 87 

torn of the pits, and receive the water which 
flows from them. According to the statement 
of Lee, the bed of these rivers is lower than 
the bed of Green River at its junction with the 
Ohio, taking for granted that the report of the 
State engineers as to the extent of fall between 
a point above the Cave and the Ohio, be correct, 
of which there is no doubt. "It becomes, then," 
continues Mr. Lee, in reference to the waters of 
the Cave, " an object of interesting inquiry to 
determine in what way it is disposed of. If it 
empties into Green River, the Ohio, or the ocean, 
it must run a great distance under ground, with 
a very small descent." 



CHAPTER X. 

Pass of El G-hor— Silliman's Avenue — Wellington's Gallery — Sulphur 
Spring — Mary's Vineyard — Holy Sepulchre — Commencement of Cleve- 
land Avenue — By whom Discovered — Beautiful Formations— Snow-ball 
Room — Rocky Mountains — Croghan's Hall — Serendl's Arbor — Dining 
Table — Dinner Party and Toast — Hoax of the Guide — Homeward 
Bound Passage — Conclusion. 

Having now left the Echo, we have a walk 
of four miles to Cleveland's Avenue. The mter- 
vening points are of great interest ; but it would 
occupy too much time to describe them. We 
will therefore hurry on through the pass of El 
Ghor, Silhman s Avenue, and Welhngton's Gal- 
lery, to the foot of the ladder which leads up 
to the Elysium of Mammoth cave. And here, 
for the benefit of the weary and thirsty, and of 
all others whom it may interest, coming after 
us, be it known, that Carneal's Spring is close 
at hand, and equally near, a sulphur spring, the 
water of which, equals in quahty and quantity 
that of the far-famed White Sulphur Spring, of 



MAJMMOTH CAVE. 89 

Virginia. *' At the head of the ladder, you find 
yourself surrounded by overhanging stalactites, 
in the form of rich clusters of grapes, hard as 
flint, and round and polished, as if done by a 
sculptor's hand. This is called Mary's Vine- 
yard — the commencement of Cleveland's Ave- 
nue, the crowning wonder and glory of this sub- 
terranean world. Proceeding to the right about, 
a hundred feet from this spot, over a rough and 
rather difficult w ay, you reach the base of the 
height or hill, on which, stands the Holy Sepul- 
chre. This interesting spot is reached at some 
hazard, as the ascent, which is very steep, and 
more than twenty feet high, affords no secure 
footing, owing to the loose and shingly charac- 
ter of the surface, until the height is gained. 
Having achieved this, you stand immediately at 
the beautiful door- way of the Chapel, or ante- 
room of the Sepulchre. This Chapel, which is, 
perhaps, twelve feet square, with a low ceiling, 
and decorated in the most gorgeous manner, with 
well-arranged draperies of stalactite of every 
imaginable shape, leads you to the room of 
the Holy Sepulchre adjoining, which is without 
ornament or decoration of any kind ; exhibiting 



90 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

nothing but dark and bare walls — like a charnel 
house. In the centre of this room, which stands 
a few feet below the Chapel, is, to all appearance, 
a grave, hewn out of the living rock. This is 
the Holy Sepulchre. A Roman Catholic priest 
discovered it about three years ago, and with 
fervent enthusiasm exclaimed, " The Holy Sepul- 
chre !" a name which it has since borne. Re- 
turning from the Holy Sepulchre, we commence 
our wanderings through Cleveland's Avenue — an 
avenue three miles long, seventy feet wide, and 
twelve or fifteen feet high — an avenue more rich 
and gorgeous than any ever revealed to man — 
an avenue abounding in formations such as are 
no where else to be seen, and which the most 
stupid observer could not behold without feelings 
of wonder and admiration. Some of the forma- 
tions in the avenue, have been denominated by 
Professor Locke, oulophihtes, or curled leafed 
stone ; and in remarking upon them, he says, 
" They are unlike any thing yet discovered ; 
equally beautiful for the cabinet of the amateur, 
and interesting to the geological philosopher." 
And I, although a wanderer myself in various 
climes, and somewhat of a mineralogist withal, 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 91 

have never seen or heard of such. Apprehen- 
sive that I might, in attempting to describe much 
that I have seen, color too highly, I will, in lieu 
thereof, offer the remarks of an intelligent cler- 
gyman, extracted from the New York Christian 
Observer, of a recent date : *' The most imagi- 
native poet never conceived or painted a palace 
of such exquisite beauty and loveliness, as Cleve- 
land's Cabinet, into which you now pass. Were 
the wealth of princes bestowed on the most 
skilful lapidaries, with the view of rivahng the 
splendors of this single chamber, the attempt 
would be vain. How then can I hope to give 
you a conception of it 1 You must see it ; and 
you will then feel that all attempt at description, 
is futile. The cabinet was discovered by Mr. 
Patten, of Louisville, and Mr. Craig, of Phila- 
delphia, accompanied by the guide Stephen, and 
extends in nearly a direct line about one and a 
half miles, (the guides say two miles.) It is a 
perfect arch, of fifty feet span, and of an average 
height of ten feet in the centre — just high 
enough to be viewed with ease in all its parts. 
It is incrusted from end to end with the most 
beautiful formations, in every variety of form. 



92 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

The base of the whole, is carbonate (sulphate) 
of hme, ill part of dazzhng whiteness, and per- 
fectly smooth, and in other places crystallized so 
as to glitter like diamonds in the light. Grow- 
ing from this, in endlessly diversified forms, is a 
substance resembling selenite, translucent and 
imperfectly laminated. It is most probably sul- 
phate of lime, (a gypsum,) combined with sul- 
phate of magnesia. Some of the crystals bear 
a striking resemblance to branches of celery, and 
all about the same length ; while others, a foot 
or more in length, have the color and appear- 
ance of vanilla cream candy ; others are set in 
sulphate of lime, in the form of a rose ; and oth- 
ers still roll out from the base, in forms resem- 
bling the ornaments on the capitol of a Corin- 
thian column. (You see how I am driven for 
analogies.) Some of the incrustations are mas- 
sive and splendid ; others are as delicate as the 
lily, or as fancy-work of shell or wax. Think 
of traversing an arched way Hke this for a mile 
and a half, and all the wonders of the tales of 
youth — "Arabian Nights," and all — seem tame, 
compared with the living, growing reahty. Yes, 
groiving reality ; for the process is going on be- 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 93 

fore your eyes. Successive coats of these in- 
crustations, have been perfected and crowded 
off by others ; so that hundreds of tons of these 
gems He at your feet, and are crushed as you 
pass, while the w'ork of restoring the ornaments 
for nature's houchir, is. proceeding around you. 
Here and there, through the whole extent, you 
will find openings in the sides, into which you 
may thrust the person, and often stand erect in 
little grottoes, perfectly incrusted with a dehcate 
white substance, reflecting the light from a thou- 
sand glittering points. All the w^ay you might 
have heard us exclaiming, ^' Wonderful, wonder- 
ful ! O, Lord, how manifold are thy works ! " 
With general unity of form and appearance, 
there is considerable variety in " the Cabinet." 
The " Snoiv-hall Kooml' for example, is a sec- 
tion of the cave described above, some 200 feet 
in length, entirely different from the adjacent 
parts ; its appearance being aptly indicated by 
its name. If a hundred rude school boys had 
but an hour before completed their day's sport, 
by throwing a thousand snow-balls against the 
roof, while an equal number w^ere scattered 
about the floor, and all petrified, it would have 
8 



94 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

presented precisely such a scene as you witness 
in this room of nature's frohcs. So far as I know, 
these " snow-balls are a perfect anomaly among 
all the strange forms of crystalization. It is the 
result, I presume, of an unusual combination of 
the sulphates of lime and magnesia, wdth a car- 
bonate of the former. We found here and else- 
where in the Cabinet, fine specimens of the sul- 
phate of Magnesia, (or Epsom salts,) a foot or 
two long, and three inches in thickness. 

Leaving the quiet and beautiful "Cabinet," you 
come suddenly upon the " Rocky Mountains," 
furnishing a contrast so bold and striking, as al- 
most to startle you. Clambering up the rough 
side some thirty feet, you pass close under the 
roof of the cavern you have left, and find before 
you an immense transverse cave, 100 feet or 
more from the ceiling to the floor, with a huge 
pile of rocks half filling the hither side — they 
were probably dashed from the roof in the great 
earthquake of 1811. Taking the left hand 
branch, you are soon brought to " Croghan's 
Hall," which is nine miles from the mouth, and 
is the farthest point explored in that direction. 
The " Hall" is 50 or 60 feet in diameter, and 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 95 

perhaps, thirty-five feet high, of a semi-circular 
form. Fronting you as you enter, are massive 
stalactites, ten or fifteen feet in length, attached to 
the rock, like sheets of ice, and of a brilliant color. 
The rock projects near the floor, and then re- 
cedes with a regular and graceful curve, or swell, 
leaving a cavity of several feet in width between 
it and the floor. At intervals, around this swell, 
stalactites of various forms are suspended, and 
behind the sheet of stalactites first described, 
are numerous stalagmites, in fanciful forms. I 
brought one away that resembles the horns 
of the deer, being nearly translucent. In the 
centre of this hall, a very large stalactite hangs 
from the roof; and a corresponding stalagmite 
rises from the floor, about three feet in height 
and a foot in diameter, of an amber color, per- 
fectly smooth and translucent, like the other for- 
mations. On the right, is a deep pit, down 
which the water dashes from a cascade that 
pours from the roof. Other avenues could most 
likely be found by sounding the sides of the pit, 
if any one had the courage to attempt the de- 
scent. We are far enough from terra supra, 
and our dinner which we had left at the " Vine- 



96 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

yard." We hastened* back to the Rocky Moun- 
tams, and took the branch which we left at our 
right on emerging from the Cabinet .Pursuing 
the uneven path for some distance, we reached 
'* Serena's Arbor," which was discovered but 
three months since, by our guide " Mat." The 
descent to the Arbor seemed so perilous, from 
the position of the loose rocks around, that seve- 
ral of the party w^ould not venture. Those of 
us who scrambled down regarded this as the 
crowning object of interest. The "Arbor" is 
not more than twelve feet in diameter, and of 
about the same height, of a circular form ; but 
is, of itself, floor, sides, roof, and ornaments, 
one perfect, seamless stalactite, of a beautiftil hue, 
and exquisite workmanship.^ Folds or blades 
of stalactitic matter hang Hk^drapery around 
the sides, reaching half way to \h.e floor ; and 
opposite the door, a canopy of stone projects, 
elegantly ornamented, as if it were the resting- 
place of a fairy bride. Every thing seemed fresh 
and new ; indeed, the invisibie^architect has not 
quite finished this master-piece ; for you can see 
the pure water, trickling down its tiny channels 
and perfecting the delicate points of some of the 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 97 

stalactites. Victoria, with all her splendor, has 
not in Windsor Castle, so beautiful an apart- 
ment as " Serena's Arbor." 

Such is the description of Cleveland's Avenue, 
as given by this clerical gentleman. It is per- 
fectly graphic, and corresponds with all the glow- 
ing accounts I have read of this famous place. 
Exquisitely beautiful and rare as are the forma- 
tions in this avenue, it will soon be, I fear, like 
the Grotto of Pensico — shorn of its beauties. 
Many a little Miss, to decorate her centre table 
or boudoir, and many a thoughtless dandy to 
present a specimen to his lady fair, have broken 
from the walls (regardless of the pubhshed rules 
prohibiting it,) those lovely productions of the 
Almighty, which required ages to perfect ; thus 
destroying in a moment the work of centuries. 
These beautiful and gorgeous formations were 
encrusted on the walls by the hands of our 
Maker, and who so impious as to desecrate 
them — to tear them from their place? there 
they are, all lovely and beautiful, and there they 
ought to remain, untouched by the hands of man, 
for the admiration and wonder of all future ages. 
If the comparatively small cave of Adelburg 
8* 



98 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

vvliicii belongs to the Emperor of Austria, be 
placed for the preservation of its formations 
under the protecting care of the goverment (as is 
the case,) what ought not to be done to preserve 
the mineralogical treasures, in this great Cave 
of America, and especially in Cleveland's Cabi- 
net, which are worth more than all the caves in 
Europe, indeed of the world, so far as our know- 
ledge of caverns extends. 

Returning from Serena's Arbor, we passed 
on our left the mouth of an avenue more than 
three miles long, lofty and wide, and at its ter- 
mination there is a hall, which in the opinion of 
the guide is larger than any other in the Cave. 
It is as yet without a name. Equidistant from 
the commencement and the termination of Cleve- 
land's Avenue, is a huge rock, nearly circular, 
flat on the top and three feet high. This is the 
'' dining table. " More than one hundred persons 
could be seated around this table; on it the 
guide arranged our dinner, and we luxuriated on 
" flesh and fowl " and " choice old sherry." Never 
did a set of fellows enjoy dinner more than we 
did ours. Our friend B. was perfectly at his 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 99 

ease and happy ; and, in the exuberance of his 
spirits, proposed the following toast: 

"Prosperity to the subterranean territory of Cimmeria; large enough, if 
not populous enough, for admission into the Union as an independent 
State." 

We emptied our glasses and gave nine hearty 
cheers in honor of the sentiment. A proposi- 
tion was made to adjourn, but B. was not in 
clined to locomotion, and opposed it with great 
warmth, insisting that it was too soon to 
move after such a dinner, and that a state of 
rest was absolutely essential to healthy digestion. 
We had much argument on the motion to ad- 
journ ; when our sagacious guide Stephen, with 
a meaning look interposed, saying "we had as 
well be going, for the river might take a rise and 
shut us up here." '^ What ! " exclaimed B. in utter 
consternation, and with a start, literally bouncing 
from his seat, cried aloud "Let's be off!" at the 
same time suiting the action to the word. In a 
second we were all in motion, and hurrying past 
beautiful incrustations, through galleries long 
and tortuous, down one hill and up another, 
(poor B. puffing and blowing, and all the while 
exclaiming against the terrible length and rug- 



100 MAMMOTH CAVE. 

gedness of the way,) we at last reached the Echo, 
which we found to our great rehef had not risen. 
It seems, the guide had used this stratagem for our 
own advantage, to break off our banquet, lest 
it trenched too far upon the night. We were 
too happy in having our fears relieved, to fall 
out with him. On our homeward bound pas- 
sage over the rivers, our admiration was rather 
increased than diminished. The death-hke 
stillness ! the awful silence ! the wild grandeur 
and sublimity of the scene, tranquilizing the 
feeling and disposing to pensive musings and 
quiet contemplation; on a sudden a pistol is 
fired — a tremendous report ensues — its echoes 
are heard reverberating from wall to wall, in 
caves far away, like the low murmuring sound 
of distant thunder — the spell of silence and deep 
reverie is broken — we become roused and ani- 
mated, and the mighty cavern resounds with 
our song. We believe every one will, under 
similar circumstances, experience this sudden 
transition from pensive musings to joyous hilarity. 
Leaving the rivers, we hastened onward to the 
outlet to the upper world. Far ahead we per- 
ceive the first daivnings of day, shining with 



MAMMOTH CAVE. 101 

a silvery pallid hue on the walls, and increasing 
in brightness as we advance, until it bursts forth 
in all the golden rays and glorious effulgence of 
the setting sun. This parting scene is lovely 
and interesting. We bid adieu to the "Great 
Monarch of Caves." We here terminate our 
subterranean tour. Standing on the grassy ter- 
race above, we inhale the cool, pure air, and 
take a last look at the "great Wonder of Won- 
ders!" To all we would say "go and see — 
explore the greatest of the Almighty's subterra- 
nean works." No description can give you an 
idea of it — neither can inspection of other caves ; 
it is "the Monarch of Caves! none that have 
ever been measured can at all compare with it, 
in extent, in grandeur, in wild, solemn, serene, 
unadorned majesty ; it stands entirely alone. — - 
" It has no brother ; it has no brother/' 



/ 



